Taiwan’s P.League+ professional basketball league is to be represented at the inaugural season of the East Asia Super League (EASL), a basketball Champions League of Asia, which is to start with eight teams in October next year.
The champions from the P.League+, the champions and runners-up from Japan’s B.League, the Korean Basketball League and the Philippine Basketball Association, and the newly formed Hong Kong-based Bay Area Chun Yu Phoenixes, are to compete in the East Asia Super League for a US$1 million purse, the EASL said in a statement yesterday.
The eight teams are to be split into two groups of four, with each team to play home-and-away contests against the others in its group from October to February 2023.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The top two teams in each group are then to play in a single elimination semi-final round, with the EASL championship game in March 2023.
The P.League+ is hoping that the association with a regional league will give it wider exposure.
“Our fans love high-level basketball and can’t get enough of it,” P.League+ founder and chief executive officer Blackie Chen said. “For the P.League+, EASL is an opportunity to grow our league and elevate its level through elite competition, while gaining exposure on a pan-regional stage.”
The P.League+, which was established last year, is Taiwan’s first professional basketball league since the Chinese Basketball Alliance shut down more than 20 years ago.
The first regular-season game in the Taiwanese league is scheduled for Saturday, with the Formosa Taishin Dreamers to play the Taipei Fubon Braves at the Taipei Heping Basketball Arena.
The other teams in the league are the Hsinchu JKO Lioneers, the Taoyuan Pilots, the New Taipei Kings and the Kaohsiung Steelers.
The EASL plans to position itself as the hub of East Asian basketball, bringing the best of the region’s club teams together in an elite competition, supported by long-term agreements with FIBA and Asia’s top leagues, EASL CEO Matt Beyer said.
“Our mission is to be East Asia’s premier basketball league, with a vision to be one of the top three leagues globally by 2025 in terms of fan base and commercial revenue,” Beyer said.
The Hong Kong club is to represent “the greater China region” in the initial version of the tournament, Beyer was cited as saying by the South China Morning Post.
However, the EASL expects to increase its number of teams to 16 by its third season, and teams from mainland China or other areas could be included, the league said in a statement.
The FIBA Asia Board is backing the formation of the EASL, FIBA executive director Asia Hagop Khajirian said.
“This new competition has the potential to enrich the road to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the continent’s highest club competition, and will act as good complement to it, providing a great basketball platform for clubs in the East Asia subzone of FIBA and the Philippines,” Khajirian said.
Former NBA stars Metta World Peace, Baron Davis and Shane Battier are on board as EASL brand ambassadors.
Each club is to be allowed two foreign imports plus an extra Asian import in 12-man rosters for each game.
However, there is to be a big emphasis on tapping local talent.
Additional reporting by AP
The Taiwan Daredevils yesterday won one and lost one in the Taiwan Premier League, dispatching TCA with ease, but stumbling against Formosa. In the morning match at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), the Daredevils’ Johan Koekemoer carried his side to 141-6 with 44 from 45 in their 20 overs. George Klopper’s right-arm spin dominated in the run chase. He claimed 4-5 from 3.3 overs as TCA slumped to 77 all out. The highlight of the innings was a stunning catch at cover as Jeff Black turned back the years to pull in a full-blooded drive on the dive
The Hsinchu Titans yesterday made a strong start in Group A of the Taiwan Premier League in Taipei, winning two games as the 10-team T20 competition began at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground. Chetan Sharma scored 57 from 30 deliveries in the morning match as the Titans made 178-7 against the Taipei Indians, who helped their opponents’ cause with 26 extras. Pramod Mandal took 3-11 as the Indians struggled to 126-8 in reply. The Taipei Stallions posed a greater hurdle to the Titans in the afternoon match, posting 163-7 after choosing to bat first. Hassaan Samad smashed 77 from 44 with seven fours and six
Alexander Zverev on Wednesday reached his 18th ATP Masters semi-final in Rome, but only after a worrying fall which sparked memories of the horror injury he had at the French Open two years ago. The world No. 5 from Germany defeated Taylor Fritz of the US 6-4, 6-3 in Italian Open to set up a last-four duel with Alejandro Tabilo, the Chilean journeyman who had stunned world No. 1 Novak Djokovic earlier in the tournament. Zverev’s moment of concern came in just the third game on center court at the Foro Italico when he fell on the clay and landed on his
Andre de Grasse, the reigning Olympic champion in the men’s 200m, and many other top-class international athletes are to showcase their talent in Taipei at the Taiwan Athletics Open early next month, according to the event’s official Web site. The Canadian sprinter, who clocked 19.62 seconds to top the podium in Tokyo in 2021, is to compete at the Taipei Stadium after the two-day event was upgraded to a leg of the World Athletics Continental Tour. The elevated status of the Taiwan Athletics Open means participants can earn more ranking points, making it possible for the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association (CTAA), the