By Waylon Galvez
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio said Tuesday that the federation is fully supportive of FIBA’s bid to further improve the esports event that had its inaugural exhibition last week.
“FIBA will push esports for sure as it is one of its innovative initiatives to expand the FIBA family,” said Panlilio in a text message.
The world governing body for basketball had its initial exhibition three-day tournament FIBA Esports Open 2020 participated by 17 countries including the Philippines, which ruled the Southeast Asian region by sweeping Indonesia 5-0 in a five-game series.
Dubbed as the “Dream Team” by the SBP, the national team of Aljon “Shintarou” Cruzin, Rial Polog Jr., Philippe “Izzo” Alzaraz, Rocky “Rak” Braña, Al “Alt” Timajo, Custer “Aguila” Galas and Clark Banzon dominated Indonesia with an average winning margin of 33.8 points.
Produced by the brand new FIBA Esports Studio in Latvia, the tournament also featured Australia, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cyprus, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and Italy.
The games are livestreamed on FIBA’s Facebook, Twitch and YouTube channels with live commentary.
The tournament, in collaboration with the NBA 2k, is part of the federation’s initiatives with the goal of enlarging the FIBA family, and comes at a time as actual competitions around the world are still barred because of the threat of the coronavirus.
Panlilio said that FIBA is determined to continue with the program, and that federation Secretary General Andreas Zagklis included him to a working team that will discuss the future of esports with FIBA.
“I am honored and privileged that FIBA has included me in an informal working team to make this happen. Watch out for the next FIBA ESports event,” said Panlilio, who teamed up with esports national association chief Jane Jimenez-Basas in forming the national team.
