Sports | Asian club basketball tournament starts

A press conference was held yesterday to announce the beginning of Summer Super 8, Asia’s first club to club basketball tournament recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The event started yesterday and will last until July 22 at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, with eight teams from China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan vying for the title of champion.

During the press conference, the president of the Macau Sports Bureau, Pun Weng Kun, said that “Summer Super 8 and The Terrific 12 in September will bring high-level basketball and the passion of international sports to Macau.”

Matt Beyer, CEO of event promoter Asia League Limited, expressed his enthusiasm about the event: “Summer Super 8 aims to be the leading platform for off-season basketball development in Asia for top Asian club teams; to give Asian coaches an opportunity improve their craft; and to aide FIBA in giving top referees a platform to hone their skills. We hope all the fans and basketball professionals from Macau and afar enjoy the games and our coaching clinic over the coming days.”

The press conference was attended by numerous athletes, along with 80 journalists representing China, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Xinjiang Flying Tigers head coach Brian Warwick Goorjian commented on the tournament: “I’ve been involved with this region for ten years. Over that time, there has been a lot of work put in by players and coaches for development of players, but they have lacked the competitions necessary for developing players’ skills and evaluating teams’ talent for the upcoming season. Summer Super 8 and The Terrific 12 are providing international competition for these teams.”

To make the event available to fans across Asia, Asia League Limited has formed a strategic partnership with Tencent Video. The collaboration will allow Tencent users from across China to access both of these regional club to club tournaments. This partnership will be supplemented by a series of partnerships on the local level with broadcast and streaming providers in various Asian markets.