Sports scribes take to the basketball court as PSA Cup returns

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Cup regular season formally opens shop on Tuesday, February 20, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium with four teams vying for glory in the annual basketball tournament that is finally making its return this year.

An opening ceremony to be graced by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Richard Bachmann ushers in the opening day action at 7 p.m. before the Capital1 Solar Boys of Manila Bulletin's Ramon Rafael Bonilla and Strong Group Athletics Press Row Boys of Daily Tribune's Julius Manicad lock horns in the curtain raiser at 8 p.m.

Following suit is an equally enticing showdown between Say Chiz Smileys of Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Francis Ochoa and Smart Sports Scribes of Spin.PH’s Dodo Catacutan in the 9:30 p.m. nightcap of the competition, which is one of the projects of PSA president Nelson Beltran of The STAR.

A preseason tiff actually served as a prelude to the regular season action, with both the Smileys and Sports Scribes finishing second in the standings behind Team PSC, which completed a four-game sweep of the exhibition matches.

Although both ended up with similar 2-2 records, Smart Sports came out on top against Say Chiz in the preseason with a 73-40 win.

Similarly, the Press Row Boys also hold the same edge over the Solar Boys after also taking a 73-68 win during the preseason tiff. The win actually salvaged SGA’s preseason campaign and allowed it to catch Capital1 on identical 1-3 slates.

It's now back to square one with all the teams playing a double round-robin format in the regular season with the top two teams getting a twice-to-beat incentive in the semifinals.

The tournament is backed by the PSC, top sports agent Danny Espiritu, Shakey's, and Athletic Events and Sports Management Group Inc.