Seven basketball clubs are to launch the Taiwan Professional Basketball League following the breakdown of talks for a new league merging T1 League and P.League+.
The owners of the new league announced the appointment of Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) as its commissioner, while the league held a draft event late last month.
Over the years, Chuang has supported Taiwanese basketball’s healthy growth by proposing amendments to the National Sports Act (國民體育法), which has enabled several outstanding foreign-born players to acquire citizenship to represent the nation at international competitions, the league said in a news release.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Over the past month, the negotiations about merging T1 and P.League+ broke down tumultuously, with corporation owners trading barbs in some instances.
Some sports pundits said they are positive about the sport’s future following a boom in the Taiwanese economy caused by artificial intelligence and other computer-related technologies, which makes it more likely that corporate owners would invest in sports, enabling better finances and signings of higher-quality players.
As T1 abolished itself following the merger talks breaking down, it gave birth to the Taiwan Professional Basketball League with seven teams: the Formosa Dreamers, CTBC DEA, Hsinchu Lioneers, New Taipei Kings, Taiwan Beer Leopards, Kaohsiung Aquas and Taipei Mars.
“This is a historic moment as the Taiwan Professional Basketball League teams draft players, and it marks the beginning of a new era... Team owners and I will put in utmost efforts to bring on the most exciting games and the best league organization to provide the most enjoyable game experiences for fans,” Chuang said following the draft event.
Local media reports said the merger talks started early last month, but they were dragged on as some club owners were unwilling to compromise on several key issues.
Meanwhile, P. League+ will get its season started in November. It consists of Fubon Braves, Kaohsiung Steelers, Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, and TSG GhostHawks.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS