George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/file
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) official Ryan Gregorio on Thursday said Mighty Sports Pilipinas will surely be included among the priority teams for the annual William Jones Cup in July.
This especially after the team grabbed another title with a 7-game sweep of the Dubai International Basketball Championship.
“They have been supportive to the programs of the federation. It’s just overwhelming that they were able to win the Dubai Cup, the first ever for a non-Middle Eastern country. In the future tournaments we’re going to align with them, partner with them, to bring more trophies for the country,” said Gregorio, the special assistant to SBP president Al Panlilio.
The SBP is the sport’s national governing body.
As of now, Gregorio said the SBP still has no concrete plans for the Jones Cup. But he said Mighty Sports will always be considered especially as the team won the 2019 edition of the Cup.
“It has always been an option to bring brands to represent the country and the last time Mighty Sports represented the country. I think Jones Cup will happen middle of the year. We’ll see, there’s no concrete plans yet but they will always be a priority,” said Gregorio.
Mighty Sports also completed a 7-0 sweep in the Jones Cup, beating Chinese Taipei Blue in the final game.
Team owners, however, said they have no plans of competing in a local league such as the PBA as of yet.
“Mighty Sports joins tournaments by invitation. As of now we have no plans joining locally. Our plan is to represent the Philippines in international competitions. This is our objective,” said team owner Cesar Wongchuking.
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