BY SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The second edition of South-East Basketball Association (SEBA) Championship tagged: “the oriental classics” staged at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu has come and gone but the memory would continue to re-echo for a long time.
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True to its billing, display of sportsmanship was at its zenith as both the winners, losers and officials were happy at the end of the three days tournament which came to a close on June 21.
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The Team Anambra known as Anambra Chief and Hearland Queens of Imo emerged winners in the male and women categories of the tournament which attracted dignitaries and basketball lovers.
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States in attendance were Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, and host Enugu. All the teams presented the men and the women’s teams for the three days competition. Over 130 players and about 20 officials participated in the tournament.
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The competition which is the first of the basketball 5 series within the southeastern states lived up to expectations.
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Indeed, teams displayed some high level of aggression, passion and scintillating basketball skills to the admiration and excitement of the fans and enthusiasts of the slam-and-dunk game.
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The Coach Charles Ibezim tutored Anambra Chiefs side stole the show from the start to the end of the competition, brushing aside all other teams to claim the first position, while Teams Imo, Ebony and Abia recorded 3 wins, 2 wins and a win respectively in the male category.
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For the female category, Captain Sophia Ejike, Ella Duru and Chidinma Nwachukwu put up excellent performances as they powered Team Imo to the top after three consecutive wins, victories against Enugu and Ebonyi States was just enough to put Anambra in the second position, while Ebonyi and Enugu secured a victory and three losses respectively.
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The chairman of the Enugu State Basketball Association Mayor Chinedu Nnam expressed gratitude and thanks to the players, the South East Basketball Association, and different sponsors and partners who made this phase possible. According to him “They have really given the game of basketball 🏀 in the southeast a sense of belonging and the players showed how much they have improved”. He said.
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The former basketball player also called on the stakeholders in the southeast to show up and support the game in the region “We need all the stakeholders to come together and support this game because after seeing what happened during the past three days 17-21 June 2023 you will agree that the game is growing fast and we need to catch up, and I am sure that with their support we will sooner than later.
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Meanwhile, the organisers of South-East Basketball Association ably led by Ugo Udezue, has hinted that the aim of the championship was to discover and project competition within the region, adding that the next destination would be in Anambra hopefully sometime next month.
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