Wednesday, December 5, 2007

18th FIBA Asia Championship For Junior Women Bangkok Thailand






18th FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIP FOR JUNIOR WOMEN
BANGKOK THAILAND


1. GENERAL

1.1 Thailand has the honor to inaugural FIBA Asia 2007 events. This junior championship was held in Bangkok from 29th January to 5th February 2007.

1.2 Originally, this event was supposed to be hosted by Vietnam last year. Due to unforeseen circumstances Vietnam Basketball Federation was unable to host it and Basketball Association Thailand kindly came to the rescue in hosting .

1.3 This championship was truly significant as to qualify 3 top teams to the FIBA U–19 championship in Slovak Republic from 26th July to 5th August 2007. Fine sunny weather greeted the athletes throughout the season.

1.4 Professor Dr. Ajit Sri Saam, Ministry of Education officiated the opening ceremony and Sheikh Saud Ali Al Thani the President of FIBA Asia closed the championship, under well organized and colourful ceremonial program.


2. PARTICIPATION

2.1 The championship is opened to all FIBA-Asia members. Apart from the 6 qualified countries from the results of the last championship held in Shenzhen China, invitations were extended to all other member countries to fill the limited sports available.

2.2 At the closing entry deadline the participants for the championship was finalised as follows :-

2.2.1. Level I

China
Korea
C. Taipei
Japan
Thailand
Singapore

2.2.2. Level II

India
Malaysia
Indonesia
Vietnam
Sri Lanka
Hong Kong
Kazakhstan



3. COMPETITION SYSTEM

3.1 Since the teams were categorised into 2 levels of competition ie Level I and Level II, there was no draw. Indonesia withdrew from participation at the last moment and Level II was left with 6 teams. Competition system as stipulated in the FIBA Asia constitution governing the competition was adopted.

3.2 Competition schedule was prepared accordingly and distributed to all parties concerned. Details as per the Annex attached.


4. COMPETITION VENUE

4.1 Hua Mark Stadium situated at the heart of Bangkok City was chosen to pitch the competition. It is within walking distance from the teams hotel (the game village), is fully air-conditioned with 13,000 seating capacity. This old faithful stadium has all the basic facilities required for any international event.

4.2 The court area has full basketball specifications and a well maintained wood based flooring with clear court-linings.

4.3 Basket Supports. The hydra – ribs branded Porter, a heavy duty system with base-plates of 2 meters from the end lines provided good service.

4.4 The 24 second clocks were mounted on the basket supports. Probably lacked of good maintenance over long period, the clocks produced some hiccups off and on. A set of spare 24 second clocks provided the back-up.

4.5 Two big electronic scoreboards were mounted on the walls on both sides of the court. They were fully operational without any problem.


5. TEAM MANAGERS MEETING

5.1 The meeting was held at Chaleena Hotel Meeting Room on 28th January 2007 at 1500 hours. Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock chaired the meeting to coordinate the events of the championship. Matters were conducted as per the agenda provided.

5.2 Technical Committee

President : Dato’ Yeoh Choo Hock, Secretary General, FIBA Asia

Member (Host) : Mr. Danai Thuekthai

Member (Co-opted) : Mr. Hagop Khajirian, Deputy Secretary General, FIBA Asia

Secretary : Col. Lee kak kuan, Technical Director, FIBA Asia


5.3 Jury of Appeal

President : Sheikh Saud Ali Al-Thani, President, FIBA Asia

MEMBERS - Alternates

Thailand - Korea / Singapore
Sri Lanka - C. Taipei / Vietnam
Malaysia - India / China
Hong Kong - Japan / Kazakhstan


5.3. Neutral Referees

(a) Miss Chernova Elena (Russia)
(b) Mr. Nikolaos Zavlanos (Greece)

5.4 FIBA Internal Regulations Governing the status of players and basketball nationality was highlighted. The agenda also included the duties of participating teams and penalty for refusing to play etc.

5.5 Confirmed team lists as per the Annex attached.


6. TECHNICAL OFFICIALS AND REFEREES MEETING

6.1. The meeting was held immediately after the Teams Managers Meeting at the same venue at 1630 hours. FIBA Asia Secretary General Chaired the meeting and matters were discussed as per the agenda.

6.2. By FIBA Asia ruling, all teams must have an accompanied FIBA Referees. It was well responded except Vietnam did not provide the referee. The total referees for the championship was 16 including 2 neutral referees and referees from the host. The list of referees and the record of assignments as per the Annex attached.

7. ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD

7.1. Two good rating hotels were selected to house all the officials and participating teams as given below. Full hotels facilities were provided with food of changing varieties were served on buffet system. Minor complaints on the quality and quantity were reported on the food served. The organizers tried its best to solve the problem.

7.2. Radisson Hotel – FIBA Asia Officials were housed separately from the teams.

7.3. Chaleena Hotel – It was chosen for the game village of the participating teams, Referees and commissioners.


8. TRANSPORTS

8.1 Transportation for the officials and athletes formed an integral part of good organization. Tour buses were catered to ferry the teams whereas limousines and MVP were provisioned for FIBA Asia Officials. LOC Staff ensured the smooth transporting system and no complaint was reported.


9. WELCOME DINNER

9.1 An Official Dinner to welcome all the officials and participating teams were held at the Ballroom Chaleena Hotel on 2nd February 2007 at 1900 hours. Colorful lighting against a well designed backdrop enhanced the occasion and a good presentation. The youth players fully enjoyed themselves with the impromptu programs from all the participating teams. It was a very successful occassion to unwind oneself from the pressure of competition.


10. THE TOURNAMENT RESULTS

10.1 The competition catered 36 matches to be completed in 8 days. An average of 5 matches were played daily without rest day. From the minutes of the play-off, the event was plain sailing and concluded in full success.

10.2. The championship was keenly contested, good performance was displayed at every stage of the competition, especially the semi-finals and final. The results were only known in the last minute, in both levels of competition.

10.3. After 7 days of intensive and thrilling competition, China and Japan were berthed for the final. China with good heights and talents, was certainly hard to beat. However, in the final show-down the speedy Japanese with their sharp shootings and superb team work asserted immense pressure on China. In the intense battle for supremacy, China took the lead and the half time score was 42 against 41 and continued to lead till the time expired. With the support from the half packed stadium China successfully defended its “Champion Title”. The score was 81 against 68.

10.4. Detail results as per the Annex attached. The standing results are as follows :-

10.4.1. Level I

10.4.1.1. Champion - China
10.4.1.2. Second - Japan
10.4.1.3. Third - Korea
10.4.1.4. Fourth - C. Taipei
10.4.1.5. Fifth - Singapore
10.4.1.6 Sixth - Thailand

Level II
10.4.2.1. Champion - India
10.4.2.2. Second - Malaysia
10.4.2.3. Third - Kazakhstan
10.4.2.4. Fourth - Hong Kong
10.4.2.5. Fifth - Vietnam
10.4.2.6 Sixth - Sri Lanka

10.5. From the results, China, Japan and Korea will represent Asia to the World Championship for U-19 in Slovak. Malaysia and India have been allevated to Level I in the next championship.


11. OBSERVATIONS & RECOMMENDATION

11.1 Thailand Basketball Association (BAT) in its tremendous effort to achieve a big success have some weaknesses as follows:-

11.1.1 Ventilation Competition Venue. The air-condition was very effective during the opening and closing ceremonies. At other times weak. As a result ventilation became a hazard, as it was warm and very humid. Big stand fans were installed to improve the condition.

11.1.2 Air-condition system should be serviced regularly and operational during the competition.

11.1.3 FIBA Asia Office. The office was provided without the equipment like computer, printer, telephone, fax machine, photo copy machine and stationary. It was only furnished with table and chairs.

11.1.4 The office is the operation room of the competition to produce reports by fax and email of the results to FIBA and FIBA Asia website. Also to communicate with other federations during the competition.

11.1.5 Press Room. Similarly, the press room allotted was in the same situation. There was a lacked of publicity and the centre was not activated or manned. It is a vital requirement for the promotion of basketball and all the activities during the competition.

11.1.6 Souvenir Magazine. In the past BAT never failed to produce this program. This is a noum in every FIBA Asia championship and the participating federations were disappointed. In a way it is historical and provides a sense of pride to view this valuable souvenir magazine at later stage in life.

11.1.7 A simple and informative program to captivate the events of the championship must be produced in every FIBA Asia Championship.

11.1.8 Publicity & Advertisement. The promotion of sports depends very much on publicity and advertising. The big stadium was crying short of spectators. There was no news of the championship in the English News Paper.

11.1.9 Aggressive approach on publicity needs be reviewed for effective organization.


12 CONCLUSION

12.1 The championship concluded in success, with the emphasis that the observations raised need be arrested for future championships. On behalf of FIBA Asia, I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the Chairman and every members of the Organising Committee for their sacrifices to achieve success. The opening and closing ceremonies were certainly unique. The beautiful display of dress and costumes by various groups of youth engaged in keen competition was amazing to the full delights of thousand of spectators in the stadium.

12.2 A vote of thank to Mr. Patrick Baumann, the Secretary General FIBA. His support has truly graced the occasion. Not forgetting Mr. Lubomir Kotleba, the Sports Director FIBA who executed 2 in 1 mission in conducting FIBA Asia Referees Clinic and also served as Commissioner for the championship.

12.3 Finally, congratulations and best wishes to China, Japan and Korea. Their splendid performance have gained the entry to participate in the 7th World U-19 Championship For Women in Slovak Republic.

Thank you “ Peace Through Basketball”

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