Cebuano Paul Desiderio shoots during the PBA All-Star Rookies/Sophomores vs Juniors game at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Pangasinan in this April 2019 photo. Desiderio, who now plays for Blackwater in the PBA, will be among the players seeing action an exhibition game in Danao on November 23, 2019. | file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—A group of former PBA players will be playing in an exhibition game in Danao City on November 23, 2019.
PBA legends Gary “El Granada” David, Willie “The Thriller” Miller, John Ferriols, and Lordy “The Alaminos Assassin” Tugade will play against the current college basketball team of the University of the Visayas (UV) in an exhibition game to kick off the Chauncey Inter-Town Basketball Tournament at the Danao Civic Center.
Also coming over will be current Blackwater Elite player Paul “Atin ‘To” Desiderio, who is from Liloan, Cebu.
The inter-town basketball tournament aims to discover new basketball players from Cebu in the hopes of reviving the commercial basketball scene in Cebu.
Edsel Vallena, head organizer of the tournament and also the current coach of the Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U), told CDN Digital through a phone call that this event will be the avenue for new and old players to be given the chance to play for a commercial team.
Vallena said this tournament is backed up by private individuals who support local basketball.
The tournament’s name, Chauncey, is taken from the name of the child of a private sponsor.
VIP tickets are sold for 250, lower box tickets for 200, and upper box tickets for 100.
One can purchase tickets by leaving a message at the Chauncey Basketball League 2019 Facebook page.
The tournament will offer cash prizes to the winning teams.
Champions will bring home P100,000, second placer gets P50,000 while third placer will win P20,000.
Vallena said they are still working on finalizing the details of the tournament. He urged those who are interested to monitor the tournament’s Facebook page for updates. /bmjo