Basketball |18 February 2023
A 3x3 tournament will take place on the weekend of March 4-5 as selection process for the two national selections for the IOIG
Traditional curtain-raiser tournament to launch 2023 calendar in mid-March
The Seychelles Basketball Federation has officially announced that the 2023 season will be officially launched in mid-March with the traditional Curtain-Raiser tournament, while a 3x3 competition will be hosted prior to that, for the sole purpose of picking two pre-selections for the forthcoming 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games 2023 scheduled to take place in Madagascar from August 23 to September 3.
The deadline for team registration for 2023 is February 28, while the last day for players’ registration is Friday March 3, which is also the closure of the transfer window.
Due to the busy preparations schedule for the four selections – men’s and women’s 5x5 and men’s and women’s ……….3x3 – for the Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG), the national league has been pushed to September, while various tournaments will be hosted in between to keep players not involved with the IOIG active, and also to bring entertainment to local basketball fanatics.
As for the 3x3 tournament which will take place on the weekend of March 4-5, it will be for the selection process for two national selections that will represent the country at the 11th IOIG.
Men’s division one side Premium Cobras’ head coach Dominic Pillay has the task of guiding the men’s 3x3 selection at the Games, while, until yesterday, a coach for the women’s selection was yet to be chosen.
It is to note that coach Pillay is not new to IOIG basketball, having been part of the team who won the country’s first and only basketball gold medal during the eighth Games in 2011 on home soil.
He also led the men’s national selection as head coach at the 10th Games in Mauritius in 2019.
Speaking to Sports NATION, coach Pillay explained that his selection process will be quite complex since most good players have already been pre-selected for the 5x5 selection, but is convinced that there are still a lot of potential among un-selected players who have the right criteria to make the 3x3 team.
He also added that he is open to discuss on possibilities where players feel like switching from 5x5 to 3x3, giving them the possibility to prove themselves, while players dropped from the 5x5 pre-selection will also have the chance for trials with the 3x3 selection.
Other than the basketball 3x3 competition, Seychelles will also be taking part in the 5x5 competition. Head coach Michel Malbrook with the assistance of Gregoire Scholastique will lead the men’s team, while Lennon Shurman, assisted by veteran player Simone Malbrook –who has taken part in eight IOIG starting in 1990 – will guide the women’s team.
It was Premium Cobras who emerged as men’s champions of last season’s Curtain-raiser competition, defeating PLS Hawks 69-67 in extra-time in the final, while the women title holders are Anse Etoile Stars who defeated Mont Fleuri 48-37 in the final.
As for the men’s division two, Anse Etoile are the reigning champions after defeating rivals Cascade Bullets 71-59 in the final.
As for the national league, Beau Vallon Heat are the reigning champions, after beating PLS Hawks in the best-of-three play-offs series, while Bel Air-based B Challenge are the women’s champions, after dominating Anse Etoile Stars in the best-of-three final series.
In the men’s division one competition, Beau Vallon Heat concluded the classification league on top, garnering 22 points from 10 wins and only two defeats from 12 matches played, pairing them with fourth-placed Drifters in the semifinals, while PLS Hawks concluded the preliminaries as runners-up on 21 points after nine wins and three defeats, for a rendez-vous with third-placed Baya in the semis.
In the best-of-three semifinal series, Beau Vallon beat Drifters twice to sweep the series and book their final spot, while the Hawks needed a third and decisive match to eliminate Baya 2-1.
PLS Hawks dominated the first match of the final series, beating the Heat 77-65, before the latter came back in game two to win 78-68, stretching the series to a third match, which they won 74-63 to be crowned champions.
As for B Challenge, they finished second in the classification league behind Stars, before eliminating HotShots in the semifinal.
In the final, B Challenge won the first match 61-48, before the Stars levelled matters with a 52-46 win in game two, forcing a third and decider match which the Bel Air side won 48-38 to win the title.
In the men’s division two competition, Anse Etoile who finished second overall in the classification league were crowned champions after defeating Anse Boileau side AB Boys 2-1 in the final.
After winning game one 63-55, Anse Etoile lost the lead in the final quarter of game two to lose 55-63 to AB Boys in game two, sending the final series into a third match.
It was in game three that the boys of Kenneth Domingue redeemed themselves, winning the match 60-46 to be crowned champions and gain automatic promotion to division one, along with AB Boys and Cascade Bullets who had to sweat against Praslin Boys for the spot.
For the annual Land Marine Cup competition, Beau Vallon won their final match 70-65 over rivals PLS Hawks, achieving the doubles and making it their fourth consecutive wins in a row over the latter, while in the women’s final, B Challenge dominated Anse Etoile Stars to win 66-45, also clinching the doubles.
Initially drawn in pool A alongside PLS Suns, AB Boys needed a 58-41victory to progress as they were the only two teams in the group, before eliminating Cascade Bullets 57-55.
In the final they beat Anse Royale 47-37 to take home the title.
It is also worth noting that the 2023 season will be run under the guidance of new chairman of the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) Jana Malbrook who was elected into the post late last year, replacing Jean-Guy Alphonse who stepped down earlier during 2022.
Roland Duval