JEDDAH, 27 February 2004 — The 10th Seiko-18th FBA Basketball Tournament will take-off on March 5, 2004 at the Ittihad Sports Club here. Twenty-nine teams will participate and the event comprises four divisions namely; Inter-Company Bona fide, Inter-Company Open Non Rated, Inter Hotel & Hospital and the Inter-Department of Zahid Tractor headed by Naser Bayram.
FBA President Gil Manese earlier got the nod of the management of Al-Hussaini & Co. through Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Hussaini, Hussam Salahi & Mohd. Ali Taleb to be the principal sponsor of the tournament for the tenth time.
Other companies supporting the event are Samsung Electronics (UMG) represented by Essam Abbas, Power Horse Energy Drink (Shawky Al-Sharawi), Al-Injazat Trading Corporation (Nivea) through Sami Michamich & Mubarak Bin Madi, Alireza Holding Co. (Tokyo Games) via Bandar Fahad Alireza, Pepsi Cola (Essam Kamel), ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel, Royal Brunei (Yousuf Javed), Giordano Fashions (M.A.K Jeelani), Metito Arabia Industries (Nort Areglado), Mega Top Express Cargo, SkyFreight Forwarders, Junastar Cargo, Ay Sarap Restaurant, Tropicana Restaurant, WRJ Freight Forwarders and Sports World Tailoring.
Hernan Huerto and Lito Martin, tournament commissioner and chairman respectively of FBA, confirmed the participation of the following teams in the three-month long tournament: Saudi Oger Co. Ltd. (Mario Basilio), Hanco Maintenance (Edgar Ainza), Saudi Archiridron (Willie Corpuz), FedEx (Gerry Arcilla), Saudi Hi-Tech (Rudy Roaya), ABS-CBN TFC (Jet Gonzales), United M.Y. Naghi (Nap Solis), SPS-Kodak Express (Edgar Mendoza), Friday Club (Raul David), Unilever S.A, Wartsila Lions (Noel Atienza), Sharbatly Corporation, (Archie Penaflor & Alex Toremania), Lube Ref Jeddah (Mousa Abdullah), Tokyo Games (Bandar Fahad Alireza), Westin Jeddah Hotel (Pierre Garnier & John Gatchalian), Jeddah Hilton (Arnold Aragon), Marriott Hotel Jeddah — Seiko, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital (Ric Aguinaldo), King Fahad General Hospital (Samsung) of Vic Bantay & Archie Pichay and ALJ-Rehab Hospital-Sadafco of Ms. Vicky Mazdu. In the Zahid Tractor Inter-Department Division, the participating teams are TVD Terminators, CMD Warriors, The Cat Rental Store (Knights/Remarketing), CMD Service, PMD Wolfhounds and IT Hackers. The main highlights of the tournament are the members of the Jeddah Selection Team that have been split into two great teams and shall be handled by veteran coaches Boy Corsega and Johnny Magalang in a best of seven games series.
Prominent figures invited to attend the event are Philippine Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla, O.A. Mohamad Taha Guinomla of the Consulate General of the Philippines, Labatt Naser Munder of POLO Jeddah and Welof Rosauro Octaviano of OWWA Jeddah. Representatives from sponsoring companies have been also invited to the opening ceremonies and the colorful parade of teams. Members of the organizing committee are Gil Manese (president), Hernan Huerto (VP & commisioner), Lito Martin (tournament chairman), Lando Santelices, Dick Guintu, Delfin Borja, Goody Viajedor (all members opf the staff) Edwin Tulah, Mike Maulana and Teng Aglialam (peace officers) and Usman (Sonny) Ismael as adviser Officiating will be handled by the FBA Officiating Group headed by Omeng Labrias and Danny Gulapa.
