SINGAPORE - After waiting for almost three years, Singapore Slingers fans will finally be able to watch their heroes play Asean Basketball League (ABL) matches at the OCBC Arena again, starting from Jan 2.
The ABL had been suspended since March 2020 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, before bouncing back with the ABL 3x3 Cup in April 2022. Talks of a full comeback in September did not materialise but, in early October, the league posted a teaser on its Facebook page that said: “We’re back”.
On Wednesday, Slingers general manager Michael Johnson confirmed the news and said that the new season will take on a new format, with four rolling tournaments leading up to best-of-three semi-finals and finals.
The season will tip off with the Jan 2-8 Singapore leg and end with the finals from March 3 to 15.
He said: “I’m excited for the league and the players because this is their career, which has been on hold for too long.
“At the moment, I can confirm only the Singapore leg as we finalise the finer details. There are still some travel and quarantine restrictions in some countries, so we have to go to countries that have no such restrictions and are unlikely to pull them back.”
Since its inception in 2009, the ABL has grown from featuring only South-east Asian teams to a vibrant competition that includes sides from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.
But this also led to the issues which Johnson had mentioned when the ABL tried to resume after the pandemic struck as various countries had different Covid-19 protocols.
The 2023 edition is expected to feature eight teams, who will be unveiled along with the other venues after clearance from the authorities. At the end of the four tournaments, each team would have played one another twice, and the overall top four teams would advance to the semi-finals.
In the Singapore leg, there will be two games played every weekday at 6pm and 8pm, and three games on Saturday (4pm, 6pm and 8pm) and Sunday (2pm, 4pm and 6pm).
Ticketing details will be announced later. The matches will also be streamed on the ABL YouTube channel.
Janice Wong, a 30-year-old pre-school teacher who started following the team from 2015, said: “This is the moment ABL and Slingers fans have been waiting three years for. And we are excited about the restart, looking forward to cheering on our favourite team and getting to enjoy the live action and atmosphere again.”
Led by coach Neo Beng Siang, the Slingers are in the midst of finalising their 12-man roster. More than half their slate has been confirmed.
After celebrating his 34th birthday on Oct 19, swingman and fan favourite Xavier Alexander returns for a sixth season with the three-time finalists, who have added two more Americans in the shape of 2.13m centre C. J. Gettys and 1.98m Kentrell Barkley, who can play as a guard and forward.
Their local players include Delvin Goh, J.S. Lin, Kelvin Lim and Tay Ding Loon. Johnson said: “I expect a lot from them because they are not rookies any more.
“Injuries have affected our line-up and we will see if we want to go with younger players for this season. In any case, like the other teams, we want to be there in the final four.”
Goh added: “It was not easy not being able to play in the ABL, it felt like we had to start from scratch in terms of fitness and skills. With the ABL, we get to travel regionally, experience different cultures and food, which definitely adds to the fun and adrenaline while getting a higher level of competition.
“I’m definitely excited about ABL coming back. This gives us the chance to get back into a higher standard and help raise the bar of Singapore basketball.
“We are also looking forward to playing on home soil for the fans who have been supporting us for so many years.
“It feels like we have wasted a couple of years of our careers waiting for things to get back to normal, but I’m glad we got through it and now have a new season to play in.”
