THE National Basketball League (NBL) and Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) get the cage fever rolling in Luzon when it holds the novelty 1v1 matches this weekend at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
Three matches in the men and five in the women’s side are in store in the special event that showcases the individual skills and talent of players.
And instead of classifying both the men’s and women’s division through height limit, the organizers classified the players according to weight—featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
“It’s like having a boxing but basketball is the game, so it’s going to be entertaining,” NBL/WNBL Executive Vice President Rhose Montreal told the online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum on Tuesday.
NBL 1v1 Commissioner Jerry Codinera and WNBL 1v1 Commissioner Haydee Ong joined Montreal in the weekly session presented by San Miguel Corp., Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila, Braska Restaurant and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
Ong said the women’s matches feature Allana Lim against Snow Penaranda (light heavyweight), Jhenn Chrystelle Angeles against Angelica De Austria (lightweight), Sthefanie Ventura against Nicole Cancio (welterweight), Jo Razalo against Girly Villaflores (heavyweight) and Jolina Go versus Nicole Delos Reyes (featherweight).
Codinera said the men’s contest include former Barangay Ginebra player Teytey Teodoro against Arnaud Noah (heavyweight), Christopher Lagrama against Mark Tamayo (featherweight) and Raymart Amil against Marvin Baracael (welterweight).
The NBL 1v1 will feature three rounds of five-minutes games with no timeouts. In between rounds, there will be a two-minute interval in the race-to-30 contest.
The WNBL meanwhile, will have one timeout per round—although the first four minutes will be running time. Championship belts will be given to all the winners per weight division.