Young players look ahead to IBL

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Young basketball players are pinning their hopes on making their mark in the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL), with a number of them being snapped up by clubs here on Sunday.

"Hopefully, this will pave the way for me to be a professional basketball player," Danang Wahyu said at a media conference.

Twenty-year-old Danang from Yogyakarta looked happy after being drafted by Indonesia Muda Panasonic Telkomsel.

"I will have to train, train and train to be a professional and help my team be the best."

Gugi Ginanjar Maulana was equally delighted and said he looked forward to playing with Angsapura Medan.

"Now that I am here I hope I can be the best, and help my team be the best too," said the 23 year old from Bandung.

Angsapura chose three new players, the other two being Yunus Efendi, 22 and Rifat R. Thayib, 21.

The four were among 16 basketball rookies drafted for next year's IBL season, participated in by 10 clubs.

Two rookies -- Saputra Aditya, 22, and Catur Purnomo, 23 -- missed out on being drafted.

"Congratulations to those who found clubs, but it is not the end of the world for those who missed out,," IBL director Agus Mauro said after the selection on Sunday.

Jakarta-based Citra Satria, which came last in last year's IBL, were given first pick of the rookies, choosing Evin Istianto Hadi, 19, and Erick Yusti, 23.

Defending champions Aspac Jakarta chose only one rookie, Fandi Andika Ramadhani, 20, while runner-up Satria Muda drafted two players: the 1.97-meter point forward Christian Ronaldo Sitepu, 19, and Alfonsius Haris, 23.

The youths had been shortlisted from 164 participants in the IBL Rookie Challenge held from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1 in Medan, Jakarta, Surakarta (Solo) and Surabaya.

They tried their skills in friendly games against Citra Satria, Kalila, Satria Muda from Nov. 13 to Nov. 19.