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| (ABL Photo). |
Internal conflicts within its country's basketball organization cost the Chang Thailand Slammers, the recently-crowned ASEAN Basketball League champions, to represent the ABL in the forthcoming 22nd FIBA Asia Champions Challenge Cup in Manila on May 28 to June 5. Due to said conflicts, FIBA, the World’s governing body for basketball, has temporarily suspended Thailand from participating in FIBA-recognized events. With the Slammers out of the picture, the ABL will now be represented by the Westports Kuala Lumpur Dragons. The Philippines as host country will be bannered by its National team, Smart Gilas, and that prevented the participation of ABL runner-ups, the Philippine Patriots, as only one team per nation is allowed in the tournament, according to ABL’s official website.
“Discussions between Kuhan Foo, CEO of the ABL and FIBA Asia led to the election of the Westports KL Dragons as the new representatives for the region in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup. The Dragons ended the regular season ranked 3rd in the ABL having fielded one of the strongest squads in the league.
“The 2nd placed AirAsia Philippine Patriots were excluded from the selection as only 1 team is allowed per country. The Philippines will already be represented by the Smart Gilas, who would be representing the host nation for the tournament.”
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