The Taipei Fubon Braves, the back-to-back P. LEAGUE+ (PLG) defending champion, are set to compete in the East Asia Super League’s Champions Week that opens Wednesday in Japan against teams from South Korea and Japan in the group stage.
The Braves will take on Anyang KGC from South Korea in the tournament’s opening game on Wednesday in Utsunomiya and then face Japan’s Ryukyu Golden Kings in Okinawa on March 4.
The East Asia Super League (EASL) functions much as the Champions League in European football, pitting top professional basketball teams from around East Asia and Southeast Asia against each other to crown a regional champion.
Starting in October 2023, the league will use a home-and-away format to play its games over several months, but it has adopted a truncated Champions Week format this week after COVID-19 restrictions around Asia prevented the league from playing games last fall.
March’s EASL competition will feature the 2021-2022 champions and runners-up of Japan’s B. League and South Korea’s KBL, the top two teams in the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup, the champion of the 2021-2022 PLG season, and the EASL-owned Bay Area Dragons.
The eight teams will be split into two four-team groups, but each team will only play two other teams in their group, with the two group winners vying for the US$250,000 first prize on March 5. The group runners-up will play for the US$50,000 third prize the same day.
The schedule was likely limited to keep teams from wearing down and being away from their home leagues for too long.
Taipei Fubon’s clash with Anyang KGC is likely to cause excitement as both teams have earned their bragging rights.
The Korean club won the Korean Basketball League’s (KBL) 2020-21 Finals Championship title with 10 consecutive playoff wins, unprecedented in the league’s 25-year history.
In the 2021-2022 season, Anyang KGC finished runner-up, losing to the Seoul SK Knights in the finals.
Meanwhile, the Ryukyu Golden Kings have been just as impressive, having finished first in the B. League’s 2021-2022 regular season before losing to the Utsunomiya Brex in the championship finals.
The other team in the Braves’ group will be the San Miguel Beermen, winners of the 2022 Philippine Cup.
The Braves released a photo of the team waiting for their flight to Japan at Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday.
“Wishing the Braves a smooth journey and a safe return,” a post on the Braves’ Facebook page said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel