Taiwan’s two professional basketball franchises, the P.League+ and the T1 League, on Wednesday said that they would merge, bringing their combined 11 teams together for a brand new season.
The P.League+, which was formed one year ahead of the T1 League in 2020, made the announcement after P.League+ chairman Richard Chang (張嗣漢) held a meeting with its six teams to discuss the merger.
The Fubon Braves and the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots of the P.League+ were initially not on board with the idea to form an integrated franchise with the T1 League’s five teams.
Photo: CNA
However, after negotiations, the P.League+ announced that all of its members had agreed to unite with the T1 League to form a new competition, with the aim of starting a new season by the end of this year.
All 11 teams would be invited to discuss the workings of the new league, the P.League+ wrote on social media.
After the P.League+ announcement, the T1 League also posted on social media, saying that its mission since its inception in 2021 has always been the advocacy of basketball in Taiwan.
As such, its five teams have responded to the call for a new league to help advance basketball in Taiwan, it said.
The 11 teams to be in the new league are the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, the Formosa Dreamers, the New Taipei Kings, the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers, the Fubon Braves and the Kaohsiung 17LIVE Steelers of the P.League+, along with the T1 League’s New Taipei CTBC DEA, Taiwan Beer Leopards, Kaohsiung Aquas, Taipei Taishin Mars and Tainan TSG GhostHawks.
The proposal for a new professional league was first announced by New Taipei Kings chairman Walter Wang (王文祥) on Saturday last week, two days after his team won their first P.League+ championship.
Initially, Wang had said that the new league would comprise at least 10 professional teams, including one from Southeast Asia.
Taiwan’s national basketball association on Monday said that it was committed to facilitating the successful integration of the two leagues.
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
WARNING: China has stepped up harassment of foreign vessels after its new regulation took effect last month, an official said, citing an incident in the Diaoyutai Islands The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday linked China’s seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel illegally operating in its territorial waters to Beijing’s new regulation authorizing the China Coast Guard to seize boats in waters it claims. Chinese officials boarded and then seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel operating near China’s coast close to Kinmen County late on Tuesday and took it to a Chinese port, the CGA said. The Penghu-registered squid fishing vessel Da Jin Man No. 88 (大進滿88) was boarded and seized by China Coast Guard east-northeast of Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣), 17.5 nautical miles (32.4km) from Taiwan’s restricted waters off Kinmen,
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military
As eight basketball-playing international students appealed to the Taiwanese basketball industry after they were excluded from the draft of an upcoming new league merging the P.League+ and the T1 League, the new league’s preparatory committee spokesperson Chang Shu-jen (張樹人) yesterday said the committee would tomorrow discuss the supplementary measures and whether the international students can join the draft. The students on Tuesday called for support on their right to play in the upcoming new league, after a merger involving the two leagues impacted their eligibility for the draft. The international players from the University Basketball Association (UBA), led by first pick prospect