Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Inc.
The Smart-Pilipinas 3 on 3 team competing in the first ever beach basketball of the 1st Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia departs tonight for the island paradise with high hopes of garnering a medal for the Philippine delegation. The delegation will be led by SBP Executive Director Noli Eala, SBP Youth Commission Chairman Nic Jorge, Head Coach Britt Reroma and bannered by 4 up and coming young players of the Youth pool including 3 players who were part of the RP Youth team that competed recently in the Asian Jr. Men’s Championship in Tehran, Iran. They are Joseph Tolentino, Samuel Marata, Papot Paredes and Arthur De La Cruz.
The Smart-Pilipinas National team which is backed by Smart Sports, Cebu Pacific and Nike and sanctioned by the SBP, POC and PSC will leave on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J 759 via Jakarta onward to Bali, Indonesia where a majority of the RP delegation is already competing in other water and beach events.
“We are very confident the boys will play well and hopefully land a podium finish,” Eala stated. “It’s a big honor for the SBP to be included in this historic event and we will try our best to make the country proud of our young team,” he added.
The Beach basketball event is a 3 on 3 tourney using FIBA 33 rules. The setting will be outdoor on a makeshift half court situated in one of the competition areas along the Bali coastline. The Smart-Pilipinas team debuts against Thailand on Friday afternoon before playing favourite Japan on Saturday in the single round prelimaries of Group B. Group A is composed of Singapore, India, Malaysia and host Indonesia. Top teams of each group will advance to the finals on Sunday where the teams are assured of a silver medal.
“All the teams are big, young and tough. But we’ve prepared hard at sa awa ng Diyos at dasal natin lahat aabot ang mga bata sa finals”, Jorge said.
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