Four favorites fight to retain top places

Four favorites fight to retain top places

JAKARTA (JP): The top four teams going into the eight-day
third leg of the 2001 Nuvo Kobatama national basketball league
starting here on Thursday will face stiff competition in their
drive to stay atop the standings.

Defending champion Aspac Texmaco is still at the top of the
standings after winning eight of nine matches in the last two
legs. In second place is Bhinneka Sritex of Surakarta, which
rejoined the league this season after a one-year relegation, with
seven wins and two losses.

Mahaka Satria Muda, the 1999 champion, also has seven wins and
two losses but is in third place based on scoring average. While
2000 league runner-up Panasia Indosyntec of Bandung is in fourth
place with six wins and three loses.

The chief of the organizing committee for the third leg, Ade
Bella Harahap, said the other six clubs in the league still had a
chance to move into the top four.

"The matches will certainly be interesting because many teams,
including those in the last four in the standings, still have a
chance to break into the top four and make their way to the
final," said Ade, who is also the Indonesian Basketball
Association (Perbasi) deputy in charge of Kobatama.

The four teams at the bottom of the standings are Jakarta-
based Indonesia Muda, Bima Sakti Nikko Steel of Malang, East
Java, the newly promoted Angsapura Sania of Medan, North Sumatra,
and Dwidasa Mitra of Jakarta.

So far, the top clubs have been very unpredictable. Aspac
bowed out to Satria Muda in the second leg in Surakarta while the
latter lost to Wismilak Cahaya Lestari Surabaya and Bhinneka.
Panasia was also beaten by Satria Muda in the first leg in
Malang.

Perbasi announced earlier that the league's final would be
held from July 7 to July 10 but the association has yet to name
the host city. The final will employ a best-of-three-matches
system.

The 10 teams in the league are divided into the Kratingdaeng
Eastern Division and the ABC Alkaline Western Division. In the
east are Panasia, Bima Sakti, Wismilak CLS, Bhinneka and Bali
Jeff Citra Satria Pelita Jakarta, while the western division
groups defending champion Aspac, Satria Muda, Indonesia Muda,
Dwidasa Mitra and Angsapura.

Private television station SCTV will broadcast a pretaped game
every Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and every Sunday from 2 p.m.
to 3 p.m. from May 19 to June 10. Game highlights will be shows
during the sports segment of the Liputan 6 Pagi news program
every Saturday and Sunday morning.

League sponsor Nuvo soap manufacturer is also offering prizes
to lure spectators, including one KIA Visto car. (ivy)