Maiden Badbeat Basketball League set to open October 22

CEBU, Philippines —  Everything is already in place for the inaugural season of the newly-formed Badbeat Basketball League (BBL) set to open on October 22 at the Sacred Heart Center Sports Club along D. Jakosalem Street in Cebu City.

BBL commissioner Mardion Delima said the friendly yet highly competitive league is open to 5-foot-11 ballers and below who are not former varsity and commercial players.

Close to 50 teams are expected to see action in the tournament that will run for over two months.

The title contenders include Hustler’s, Serenis North Dribblers, Side Hustle, Barakodas, Schwartz, Happy Brew, Midland Hoopers, Flip Basketball, Gin’s Printer, Hoopers, CJ's-CDC, Project Hoops, Peacemaker, Stallion, CURC Ballers, Prayboys, Cebu GBA Amigos, Fernandez Optical, Silogan ni Gian, Team Fuentes, and SC Ballers.

Also in the list are Houndz, RW Freight Forwarders, Viking’s, Brotherhood Tigers, Icypay, Banica, Kaiju, Kokoklay, Go Online Solution, Du Ek Sam, Lomax Events, Team Puma, Chancellor, Phantoms, BGC Boys, GSR Motorshop and Babershop, Frontyard (Grit & Grind Kings), Underdog, Labangon, and Team Joeric.

They will be divided into eight brackets, with only four teams per bracket advancing to the next round. From there, the semifinalists and eventually the finalists will be determined.

Spearheaded by Badbeat Sportswear, the fledgling BBL got a big boost with the entry of Harbour City Dimsum House, Inc. through its director Lorraine Uytengsu-Calisang and manager Steven Kokseng as the league's main corporate backer. Part of their deal is giving away P500 worth of Dimsum House gift voucher to the Player of the Week in the entire duration of the competition. — EBV