IBL to launch 2004 season in May

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fledgling Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) season will launch its 2004 season on May 9 in Jakarta with ten teams to compete in six cities through late August.

The ten teams are defending champion Aspac HP, 2003 runner-up Bhinneka Sritex of Surakarta, Citra Satria, Indonesia Muda Star, Mitra Kalila, Satria Muda Britama, all from Jakarta, Panasia Indosyntex of Bandung, Angsapura Sania of Medan, Bima Sakti Nikko Steel of Malang and CLS Good Day of Surabaya.

IBL was introduced last year with a goal to make the local basketball competition both a professional and commercial success.

The league's new director Agus Antares Mauro announced at a press conference here on Tuesday that he hoped this year's competition would fare better than the first season.

"I am looking forward to seeing the 2004 season, not just as a competition, but also to raise the profile of professional basketball here," said Agus, who replaced Ary Sudarsono at the start of the season.

He added that the IBL wanted to motivate young people to play basketball, thereby creating a larger pool of talent for the future.

The ten teams will be divided into two conferences and will each play four times. The top two teams from each conference advance to the semifinals.

The first set of games in Jakarta are scheduled to run from May 9 to May 16, followed by the second in Semarang from May 29 to June 4.

An All-Star game will be held in Bali on July 3 before the regular matches resume with the third series in Bandung from July 11 to July 18 and the fourth series in Yogyakarta from July 28 to Aug. 3.

The semifinalists will head to Medan for the Aug. 14-17 matches.

The finals will be a best-of-three format and begin on Aug. 22.

The finalist with the best record will host the second game on Aug. 23, and, if necessary, the third on Aug. 24.