Eastern first Hong Kong basketball team to compete in continental competition for 20 years as they make Asean League bow
The only professional side in the city have signed four foreign players to try to compete
Eastern will become the first basketball team from Hong Kong in almost 20 years to take part in a regional club competition as they kick off their Asean Basketball League (ABL) campaign later this month.
With the help of four foreign players, the domestic A1 Division runners-up of last season will rub shoulders against five leading sides of the region on a home-and-way basis in the league, which features 20 matches in the regular season.
“It has been a long time since a Hong Kong club take part in a regional competition and will be a great opportunity to showcase our basketball again to our fellow Asian counterparts,” said Choi Fong-yue, Eastern assistant team manager, who played with Regal, the last club to represent Hong Kong in continental competition, the ABC Champions Cup in 1998.
“We have put up a strong force led by a foreign coach and four overseas players and our target is to reach the final. It is going to be difficult to predict the results as this is our debut season but nonetheless Eastern have taken the first step and hopefully more local clubs will join us in future.”
Regal were once a dominant side in regional basketball, lifting the 1997 ABC Champions Cup and finishing runners-up the following season before pulling out of domestic basketball.
The ABL is by invitation with six top teams in the region. Four teams will qualify for the play-offs. The five others are Singapore Slingers, Kaohsiung Truth, Alab Pilipinas, Saigon Heat and Westports Malaysia Dragons.