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Basketball All-Stars shine for first time in Taipei

Over 20,000 fans are expected to pack the Taipei Sports Education College Arena tonight for the first Super Basketball League (SBL) All-Star game.

The Scarlet Knights, consisting of All-Stars from the Yulon Dinos, the Sina Lions, and the Dacin Tigers, take on the White Knights, made up of top players from the Jeoutai Elephants, the BCC Mars, Taiwan Beer, and Bank of Taiwan.

The Scarlet Knights will be headed by longstanding Dino icon Chien Yi-fei (錢一飛), while his counterpart, Mars' skipper Chung Chih-mong (鍾枝萌) leads the way for the younger White Knight squad.

Lions backcourt men Chou Jung-san (周俊三) and Luo Hsin-liang (羅興樑) will direct the Scarlet offense, with a frontcourt filled by Tiger power forward Tien Lei (田壘) and Dino big men Chen Hsin-an (陳信安) and Tseng Wen-ding (曾文鼎).

Huang Chuen-hsiung (黃春雄), Liu Yi-shian (劉義祥), Chen Chih-chung (陳志忠), Lee Hsueh-lin (李學林), Chiou Chi-yi (邱啟益), Wei Yung-tai (魏永泰), and Chang Chih-fong (張智峰) round out the Scarlet roster in a lineup comparable to Taiwan's national team.

Displaying abundant youth and raw talent are the White Knights, led by Mars point man Yen Hsing-shu (顏行書) and Elephants pure shooter Yang Yu-ming (楊玉明).

Yen and Yang will team up with Taiwan Beer standout Lin "the Monster" Chih-jeh (林志傑), as well as Mars swing man Yang Cheh-yi (楊哲宜) and Elephants center Wu Dai-hao (吳岱豪) to complete a White Knights lineup considered to be cornerstone of Taiwan's national team for the next decade.

Chen Hui (陳暉), Lee Chi-yi (李啟億), Lin Chia-huang (林佳皇), Shang Wei-fang (尚韋帆), Chen Shih-nian (陳世念), Lin Chuin Fong (林群峰), and Chou Ben-tang (周本堂) will round out the White roster.

The festivities at the mid-season event will begin with an autograph session from 6pm to 6:30pm, followed by a three-on-three "bull fight" between the representatives from the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the SBL's Chen Chien-chou, Tang Chih-chung, and Chien Wei-chuan.

A three-point shootout will conclude the pre-game activities and a slam-dunk competition is scheduled for the 20-minute halftime break.

Luo Hsin-liang of the Lions is the early favorite to take home the three-point crown as Yang Yu-ming looks to spoil Luo's night, while the field remains wide open for the 13 contenders in the slam dunk competition.

The showdown between the top two backcourts in the country: Chou and Luo versus Yen and Yang will unquestionably be the top storyline, as the basketball gods witness the passing of the torch from the 30-something Chou and company to the young and restless tandem of Yen and Yang in an era where only the fittest will survive.

Another main point of interest will be the battle between the Chen Hsin-an/Tien Lei combo and the Lin Chih-jeh/Yang Cheh-yi duo for the right to claim supremacy as the nation's top one-two punch.

Last, but not least, is the well known love-hate relationship between all-star centers Tseng Wen-ding and Wu Dai-hao.

Separated by one year in age, the two Tsai Hsin Senior High School (再興中學) graduates have earned each others' respect.
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