ThePapare Basketball Championship 2018 to kick off in Sept

Thursday, 23 August 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s number one Sports Hub, ThePapare.com, will power the under-19 all-island ‘A’ division (boys/girls) schools basketball tournament for the third consecutive year.

‘ThePapare Basketball Championship 2018’, Sri Lanka’s premier schools’ basketball tournament, will shoot off at the nets of Gateway College, Colombo, on 16 September at 2.30 p.m., with the commencement of the girls’ tournament. The boys’ tournaments will commence at St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, on 25 September from 2.30 p.m. onwards. Four top teams from four groups will then feature in the quarter-finals and qualify for the semi-finals and the grand finals, which will be played under lights at the Hendry Pedris Stadium on 5 October.

ThePapare Basketball Championship was initiated in 2016 with hopes of enhancing the game of basketball in Sri Lanka, with 26 schools participating in the 2016 tourney, while St.

Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, emerged as the boys’ champions, and Good Shepherd Convent won the girls’ title. ThePapare Basketball Championship 2017 crowned Royal College, Colombo, as the under-19 boys’ champions for the year, while Holy Family Convent and St. Joseph’s Girls School, Nugegoda, celebrated joint championships in the girls’ category. Starting from the quarter-final stage of this tournament, matches will be streamed live and exclusively on ThePapare.com, Dialog Now (channel one) on your Dialog Television, and on your mobile with MyTV from any mobile network. The quarter-final stage is scheduled to commence on 30 September with all matches to be played under lights at the Hendry Pedris Stadium. ThePapare.com, along with the Schools Basketball Federation of Sri Lanka, has taken the initiative to introduce the ‘Schools Basketball Rules Book’, to be strictly adhered to during all schools basketball tournaments. Keeping in line with said rules book, the top 20 ranked schools will be granted admission into the ‘A’ division under-19 category, and the rest will follow in ‘B’ division.

ThePapare.com is also proud to announce its first-ever jersey sponsorship for all participating teams in the 2018 tournament. Each team will receive customised jerseys designed to suit their school colours. “ThePapare.com is delighted to partner with the Basketball Federation to power this unique tournament, bringing together local and international schools in the country. Our objective is to empower the sport and build visibility for the game in Sri Lanka, as well as to help build camaraderie amongst schools. We wish all the teams the very best and look forward to a great tournament and experience throughout the next few weeks,” said Dialog Axiata PLC Senior General Manager – Global and Content Services Mangala Hettiarachchi. The Schools Basketball Association President Sanath Jayalath, speaking at the occasion, said: “We are happy that ThePapare.com is partnering with us for the third consecutive year. The players were motivated to play the tournament with the value addition of live streaming of the tournament as well. This year’s tournament will be more intense with outstation schools participating, and we invite everyone to be a part of it.”