East Asia’s basketball club team tournament kicks off
The Super 8 Macau 2017, featuring top teams from China, Japan, South Korea and Taipei, kicked off yesterday, with club teams playing for a total of 16 games at the Studio City Event Center (SCEC).
Asia’s premier commercial pre-season tournament will be played over a five-day period, with an initial group stage followed by the semi-finals and final rounds.
Each group will play three round-robin games. The best two teams from each group will advance to the top four, which will play the following day in a winner-takes-all Semi-Finals and Grand Final.
During the press conference yesterday, CEO of The Super 8, Matt Beyer, said that the tournament is one of the first in Macau as it brings together a collection of East Asia’s top club teams, adding that it is the group’s goal to assist the region in diversifying its economy and offerings.
Beyer noted that there is a lack of club-to-club basketball competitions in East Asia, thus the group hopes to create one in Macau.
“We would like to continue these efforts to open more events and to build the platform for greater exchange and communication between clubs,” he told the press.
“It’s the future there needs to be more international integration, and we believe this is just a start of that effort in East Asia,” the CEO added.
Supported by the Sports Bureau (ID) and Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), The Super 8 plans to use the inaugural 2017 tournament to position itself as Asia Pacific’s largest club-to-club competition platform in the region.
After the first tournament, competitions in 2018 will be expanded to include more top-level teams.
According to Beyer, the group plans to hold a tournament in February, July and September of 2018, with hopes of taking the platform across Asia; however he stressed that championship games will be played in the region.
“Macau has all of these excellent venues, […] I’ve been to [some] 50 arenas in Asia. This [SCEC] is the best I’ve been to,” said Beyer.
As Macau transitions from gaming to diversified entertainment, the type of events that integrates sports into Macau will “definitely lead to GDP growth,” he added, noting that the Las Vegas NBA Summer League has contributed USD30 million yearly, and has been in operation for ten years.
With the Summer League attracting over 72,000 spectators, Beyer believes that The Super 8 can also attract a significant audience over time, citing the city’s affiliation with its neighboring regions.
Further, ID vice president Christine Lam said that international sports events such as The Super 8 could also develop the interest of young people in sport.
The president of Macau China Basketball Association also remarked, “We look forward to what lies ahead in the future in terms of bigger and better basketball events to promote the sports, and engage local people on a more grassroots level.”
Teams from the four regions include Goyang Orion Orions, Pauian Archiland, Ryukyu Golden Kings and Shenzhen Leopard, which will play in Group A, while Chiba Jets, Fubon Braves, Samsung Thunders and Zhejiang Guangsha Lions will play in Group B.
