ABL CULMINATED END OF INAUGURAL SEASON WITH CHAMPIONSHIP DINNER

March 9 2010, Kuala Lumpur - After five months of grueling competition and passionate rivalry between the six South East Asian countries, the ASEAN Basketball League drew to a close as the Phillipine Patriots won 3-0 against Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma in the best-of-five series playoffs and raised the cup as the inaugural champions of the ABL last month on the 21^st of February.

The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) culminated the end of their inaugural season with a Championship Presentation Dinner at The Gardens Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to acknowledge and honor excellence that was displayed on court.

The ABL presented the Philippine Patriots with championship rings for their win and Satria Muda BritAma as the runner up received silver medals.  Three additional awards was given out tonight and the three coveted titles went to Warren Ybanez (Philippine Patriots) as the ABL Finals MVP,  Attaporn Lertmalaiporn (Thailand Tigers) as the ABL League MVP and Jason Dixon (Philippine Patriots) as Best ABL Import.

The ABL has accomplished many firsts in its inaugural season. It has received regional TV coverage across the region with fans and new basketball converts packing the stadiums. Across all sporting levels the ABL has created the first professional sports league in the region. Teams have set the standards in coaching and the development of national players in their respective countries by giving them a much longer period of high level competition where they also earn salaries as professionals.

ABOUT THE ABL

The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is South East Asia's first professional regional sports league. Made up of some of the best professional basketball teams in the region the league has seen tremendous support and a huge profile of followers after it has received consistent regional television coverage. The league is sanctioned by the South East Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) and FIBA Asia. The teams are owned by corporations or private individuals who are driven to improve the growth of the sport by implementing professional management and marketing savvy to promote and expand the fan base of the sport while developing new talent for the game in each country.

The ABL is founded by AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes and is owned by E-live Entertainment and Tune Sports. The league is currently made up of the Singapore Slingers, Satria Muda Britama from Jakarta, The Philippine Patriots, the KL Dragons from Malaysia, the Thailand Tigers and the Barracudas from Brunei. The league will look to expand the number of teams in its second season starting in October 2010.

For more information, please contact Mr Kuhan Foo, Chief Executive Officer of the ASEAN Basketball League email kuhan@aseanbasketballleague.com, or Stella Oo, Marketing via email stella@aseanbasketballleague.com.