Triple citizenship for Korean ace

MANILA, Philippines - Dual citizenship is a right guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution to Fil-foreigners when their Filipino parent was still a Filipino citizen on the day of birth wherever they were born. For eligibility purposes in FIBA competitions, a dual citizen may choose to represent any one of his two countries. FIBA also requires the player to have opted for dual citizenship on or before turning 16. Once a dual citizen chooses the country to represent, he may no longer play for the other country in a FIBA tournament.

At the 27th FIBA-Asia Championships now underway here, Korean-American Eric Sandrin – now using his Korean name Lee Seung Jun – is an exceptional case because he supposedly has three citizenships. The authoritative eurobasket website reports that the 6-8 Sandrin owns a collection of US, Korean and Brazilian passports.

Sandrin, 35, played with the University of Portland and Seattle Pacific University varsities in the US before seeing action as an import in Luxembourg, Brazil, Poland, Portugal and France. He had tryouts with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings and played in the Continental league with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the American Basketball Association with the Bellevue Blackhawks and Bellingham Slam.

Sandrin began playing in the Korean league in 2007 and obtained his Korean citizenship two years later. He wasn’t included in the Korean squad that edged the Philippines, 70-68, for the bronze medal at the previous FIBA Asia Championships in Wuhan in 2011. The slot for a naturalized player went to Cameron Stevenson, renamed Moon Tae Jong, instead. Stevenson, like Sandrin, is half-Korean but as both did not obtain their Korean citizenships on or before they turned 16, they lost their eligibility to play as locals on the national team. Sandrin suited up for Korea at the Olympic wildcard qualifying tournament in Caracas last year and topped his team in scoring. He shot 15 points in Korea’s 91-56 loss to Russia and 21 in the 95-85 defeat to the Dominican Republic.

In last Thursday’s bill, Sandrin’s main job was to defend China’s Yi Jianlian in the middle. He finished with six points and four fouls in 20:50 minutes as Korea stunned China, 63-59, spoiling Greek coach Panagiotis Giannakis’ FIBA Asia debut on the Chinese bench. Delivering the killer blows for Korea were 6-9 Kim Joo Sung and 6-2 Cho Sung Min who combined for 27 points. The same pair played a key role in leading Korea to a 70-68 win over the Philippines for third place at the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships. Cho hit 14 points in the fourth period and Kim wound up with 14 points and nine rebounds to trigger the come-from-behind victory that left the Philippines out of the medal standings for 25 straight years.

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There are other players of mixed ethnic origins in FIBA Asia rolls. Japan’s half-American Sean Hinkley has been renamed Ichioka. The 6-7, 22-year-old forward played at West High School in Torrance, California, and joined the Japanese national squad two years ago. Chinese-Taipei’s half-American Douglas Creighton, a 6-5 forward, attended Madonna University, a Catholic school in Livonia, Michigan, and has played in the Taiwan league since 2007. Both Hinkley and Creighton are considered locals by FIBA, allowing Japan to play import J. R. Henderson (now Sakuragi) and Chinese-Taipei to enlist import Quincy Davis. Each team is allowed to suit up only one import or naturalized player.

Hong Kong’s half-Canadian Duncan Reid, a 6-9 center, went to the University of Guelph in Ontario. Bahrain’s half-Filipino Bader Abdulla Malabes played with the La Salle varsity in the UAAP and has been a national team mainstay since 2010.

India’s Amjyot Singh is Spanish, according to eurobasket. The 6-1 guard compiled 16 points and nine rebounds in 34 minutes in India’s 82-80 overtime loss to Bahrain last Thursday. In that same game, Malabes shot seven points in 18 minutes. Two other dual citizens are the Philippines’ Jimmy Alapag and Gabe Norwood. Alapag is a full-blooded Filipino while Norwood’s mother Tiffiney traces her roots to Pangasinan and Tarlac.

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Two players whose citizenships should be scrutinized are Qatar’s 6-4 guard Saad Abdul Rahman and Kazakhstan’s 6-9 Leonid Bondarovich. Abdul Rahman, 28, was born in Somalia and went to Algonquin College in Ottawa. He is listed as a Canadian and Qatari dual citizen. Abdul Rahman joined the Qatari national team in 2004 when the squad underwent a major overhaul, bringing in Yaseen Ismail Musa, Erfran Ali Saeed and Ali Turki Ali – all of whom are playing in this year’s FIBA Asia Championships. Qatar coach Tom Wisman enlisted Jarvis Hayes to play for the national team as an import so Abdul Rahman must be classified as a dual citizen for FIBA eligibility purposes.

Qatari national player Tanguy Ngombo, who is from the Congo, remains disqualified from rejoining the team after it was discovered his birth papers were falsified to make him five years younger. Ngombo was the Dallas Mavericks second round pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He played two years with the Qatari national squad before his disqualification by FIBA.

Bondarovich, 22, is listed as coming from Russia so even if Kazakhstan used to be a state in the Soviet Union, he should be classified as an import or naturalized citizen. The problem is Kazakhstan’s import is American Jerry Johnson. Bondarovich played in Moscow and St. Petersburg before moving to the Kazakh league in 2011. Bondarovich must be a dual citizen to qualify with Kazakhstan as Johnson is the naturalized player.