CECABA Season 11 opens today

CEBU, Philippines - The past and present crop of Easternian hoop buffs will once again converge today for the formal opening of the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association’s 11th Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup at the CEC Gym.

This year’s number of entries has been reduced to only 16 due to the merger of several teams, thus, bringing the competition to a new dimension and highly competitive level.

“With this new development, we are expecting the competition to get even tougher. This is an added challenge for those who are aspiring for the championship,” said league founder Chester C. Cokaliong, who is also the team director of the Pilipinas Shell-backed Class ’78/85.

Before the hardcourt hostilities, a simple opening ceremony will take place at 1 pm to be graced by acting Cebu City Mayor Michael “Mike” L. Rama. The other highlights of the kick-off bash is the selection best muse and best in uniform.

Cokaliong egged on his fellow Easternians to unite and work together for the smooth flow of the tournament, which has evolved from its humble begginings into one of the most respected and well-organized alumn-based cage league in the region and perhaps in the entire country.

“Our Dr. Chen Lieh Fu Memorial Cup is now in its 11th season. All of us can attest the past 10 seasons have been successful for the Cebu Eastern College Alumni Basketball Association (CECABA),” said Cokaliong.

In the year of the Ox, we should be guided by our declared objectives of achieving fellowship, renewing friendship and fostering camaraderie among all of us Easternians in order that this will be another successful season,” added the shipping-magnate and award-winning sportsman.

In the opener of a scheduled triple-header, Cokaliong’s Class ’78/85 will go up against Dewfoam ’88 of skipper Rey Kenneth Ng at 3 pm. First Family Appliance ’87/94 of Anthony Chua will square off against Centennial Hardware ’95 of Tong Te Co, Jr at 4:30, while Chester Enterprises ’82/83 of Christopher Cokaliong will test the mettle of First ACY Shipping of Ralph Victor Yap in the main dish at 6 pm.

The rest of the competing squads and their respective captains are Schick Razor ’84/92 of Samuel Sia, Gregoria’s Curtains and Trim Haus ’89/93 of Ryan Alexis Mendez, Young Builders ’91 of Kevin Co, Roadstar/Castrol ’96, MFL Mini Mart ’98-A of Hubert Gochuico, GCM Merchandise ’98-B of Virgilio Escoton, Jr., RJX Transport Solutions ’99 of Troy Symington Tan, Cebu Diamond Parts 2000 of Raymond Ryan Ong, Ewolve Marketing 2005 of Philip John Lua, and JRJ Enterprises/Semers 2007 of Raymark Ryan Ong.   (THE FREEMAN)