Singapore set to welcome Asia’s top youth basketballers

Contributed by Shane Neubronner

Thursday, June 24, 2010 — More than 50 top young and aspiring basketball players* from across Asia have been selected to participate in Basketball without Borders (BWB) Asia. This exciting announcement was revealed by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) today. This will be the first time BWB is being held in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

These players, aged 19 and under, are from a record-breaking 21 countries and territories spanning the Asian continent and Oceania region. The selection of players was made by the NBA, FIBA and participating federations such as the Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS), and was based on players’ technical skills, leadership abilities and dedication to the sport. BWB Asia, which takes place from 28 June to 1 July 2010, will be held over various venues such as the Singapore Sports School and Singapore American School.

BWB Asia participants will be put through a training programme to hone their technical skills through drills, scrimmages, and competitions under the mentorship of NBA players and coaches. Teams will be formed without regard to race or nationality to promote friendship and diversity. The programme will provide top-level development both on and off the court as the participants take part in daily life-skills seminars that teach the values of the game such as leadership, character development, and living a healthy lifestyle. The camp will culminate with a BWB All-Star Game at the Singapore Sports School on 1 July. For the first time in BWB Asia history, the All-Star Game will be broadcast live on SuperSports Arena (StarHub TV Channel 201) at 5pm on 1 July. SuperSports Arena is a complimentary sports channel accessible by all StarHub TV customers.

“Being selected to participate in BWB Asia is like a dream come true,” said Singapore youth basketballer Larry Liew Hua Sen, who had competed in the 2009 Asian Youth Games and was selected by the BAS to participate in BWB Asia. He added: “I look forward to meet with these rising NBA stars, and to compete against other top youth basketball players from around Asia. This will give me valuable regional experience and also enable me to hone my technical edge.”

BWB is being brought to Singapore as part of a partnership between the NBA and the SSC to further develop the increasingly popular sport of basketball in Singapore and to promote a healthy and active lifestyle to youth. Partnership elements also include a ‘Chalk Talk’ on off-court coaching issues, a school visit by an NBA player and a community basketball event which will all take place around BWB Asia.

BWB Asia will feature Nike, The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, 100PLUS and StarHub as marketing partners, and Spalding as the official supplier. BWB marketing partners since 2002, Nike will again outfit all the camp participants and coaches with Nike footwear and apparel and Spalding will supply all basketball equipment for the camp.

*List of players participating in 2010 Basketball without Borders Asia

Australia — Corey Maynard, Tom Daly, Chris, Patton, Josh Wilcher, Jan Warbout
China — Tao Hanlin, Wang Yingliang, Zhang Dayu, Cao Fei, Xiaokelaiti Azati
Taiwan — Hung Kang-Chiao, Chen Ying-Chun
India — Somvir Somvir, Sunny Raut, Satnam Singh
Indonesia — Dewah Wiratno
Iran — Amir Sedighi, Arman Zangeneh, Ghahraman Omari, Meisam Mirzaei Talarposhti, Farshad Kharazmi
Japan — Yuya Nagayoshi, Tenketsu Harimoto
Jordan — Ahmad Dwairi, Ahmed Nofal
Kazakhstan — Dmitriy Tsoy, Shaim Kuanov, Vadim Chsherbak
Korea — Kim Jihoo, Bae Sooyone, Kim Nakhyeon, Lee Juhyeong
Kyrgyzstan — Alexsandr Adeikin, Evgenii Pekhov
Lebanon — Constantin Kodsi, Karam Mechref
New Zealand — Jordan Ngatai, Christopher Duthie
Philippines — Mario Emmanuel Bonleon, Gian Carlo Go
Qatar — Abduallah Shaher Matalkeh
Singapore — Fong Jia Jun, Ng Zhao Feng, Larry Liew, Russel Low
Turkmenistan — Muradberdy Bazarbayev
UAE — Omer Khalid Faqqas Omar Al Ameri, Qais Omar Al Shabebi
Uzbekistan — Denis Timofeev
Vietnam — Le Dat