An opening ceremony to be graced by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard Bachmann ushers in the opening day action at 7 p.m before the Capital1 Solar Boys of Manila Bulletin’s Ramon Rafael Bonilla and Strong Group Athletics Press Row Boys of Daily Tribune’s Julius Manicad lock horns in the curtain raiser at 8 p.m.
Following suit is an equally enticing showdown between Say Chiz Smileys of Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Francis Ochoa and Smart Sports Scribes of Spin.PH’s Dodo Catacutan in the 9:30 p.m. nightcap of the competition which is one of the projects of PSA president Nelson Beltran of The Philippine Star.
A preseason tiff actually served as a prelude to the regular season action with both the Smileys and Sports Scribes finishing second in the standings behind Team PSC which completed a four-game sweep of the exhibition matches.
Although both ended up with similar 2-2 records, Smart Sports came out on top against Say Chiz in the preseason with a 73-40 win.
Similarly, the Press Row Boys also hold the same edge over the Solar Boys after also taking a 73-68 win during the preseason tiff. The win actually salvaged SGA’s preseason campaign and allowed it to catch Capital1 on identical 1-3 slates.
It’s now back to square one with all the teams playing a double round-robin format in the regular season with the top two teams getting a twice-to-beat incentive in the semifinals.
The tournament is backed by the PSC, top sports agent Danny Espiritu, Shakey’s, and Athletic Events and Sports Management Group Inc.
