| Fadhil Yunus |
THE opening ceremony of the Low San Brunei Basketball Open 2018 was held amid much fanfare at the Brunei Basketball Association Court in Batu Bersurat last night.
Legislative Council member Yang Berhormat Ong Tiong Oh was the guest of honour.
The event started with the introduction of the participating teams from the men’s, women’s and veteran categories. A total of 26 teams across three categories will be vying for top honours.
In the Men’s Tool Box Challenge Cup, Group ‘A’ comprises of Wolves, TSL, YTE, Tool Box, JHY Enterprise and Shooting Stars Dev. Group ‘B’ is made up of Fitness Zone, GKL, Singapore Motor, Medewa Eagles, Systematic Living and Jedstar.
The Women’s Sherwin Williams Cup includes Honey Cars Smart, Mum Bakery Mobile World, GHK and KYG Work Contractor.
Meanwhile in the Veterans Low San Shield, Group ‘A’ consists of TK Tea House, Linktech, Stars on 40s, Team Airish/ TSL and GHK. Group ‘B’ features Bukit Ladang, Fitness Zone, Veteran United, Hankook and Menglait.
Shortly after the teams paraded the court, the event continued with the playing of the national anthem and welcoming remarks from Vice-Chairman of the Brunei Basketball Association and Chairman of the organising committee Tan Chu Eu.
“This tournament made its successful re-debut in 2017 in which 28 teams of approximately 330 players took part,” said Tan in his speech.
“This has in turn increased the visibility and penetration of basketball in the hearts of the Brunei community. It has also increased the level of competition of our beloved sport in Brunei.”
This was followed with a speech by Managing Director of Low San Hardware and sponsor of the Low San Brunei Open Matthew Bond.
“The first ‘Low San Shield’ Basketball Tournament was held in 1959 and was reintroduced last year to great success. The tournament symbolises so many great qualities such as promoting a healthy lifestyle, teamwork and perseverance,” said Bond.
“We are focussing on building excitement in the community and encouraging people to embrace the spirit of the game by showing their support for the competing teams,” he further added.
Among the highlights of the event were cheque presentations from the sponsors and supporters of the Low San Brunei Open and the reading of the players’ vow by Darren Yap.
The guest of honour was then introduced to the participating teams before the event proceeded with a ceremonial ball toss for the game between Fitness Zone and GKL which marked the official start of the tournament.
Earlier, TK Tea House made a winning start in Group ‘A’ of the Veterans Low San Shield with a score of 118-76 over Linktech.