Governor’s Cup hoop to adapt new format

CEBU, Philippines — A new format will be applied in the 2019 Cebu Governor’s Cup Inter-Cities and Municipalities Developmental Basketball Tournament set to kick off on March 9.

Lyle Larida of the organizing Cebu Provincial Sports Commission said the 41 contenders will be divided into seven brackets per congressional district that will play in a single round robin format.

The top two teams per district (champion and runner-up) at the end of the first round of elimination will proceed to the quarterfinals with a cash bonus of P100,000 and P50,000, respectively. The 14 qualifiers will then be bunched into two groups of seven through drawing of lots.

They will fight it out in another round robin, with the top two finishers advancing to the crossover semifinals. The winners will dispute the coveted title in a best-of-three series, while the losers will slug it out for third place.

The grand champion will pocket P500,000, while the runner-up will receive P300,000.

The Talisay City Aquastars, who clinched last year’s crown with an undefeated 12-0 record, are back to defend their throne.

Noticeable though is the good number of LGUs not taking part in this year’s edition of the annual tournament that aims to discover new talents and further harness the potential of aspiring Cebuano cagers.

These are Toledo, Dalaguete, Bantayan, Madridejos, Pilar (Camotes), Compostela, Liloan, Asturias, Pinamungajan, Aloguinsan and Daanbantayan. EBV