The 1st Nokia Asha and 34th FBA basketball tournament ended last Friday just the way it started — a huge success — after more than 3 months of grueling and exciting games at the jampacked Sheraton Jeddah Hotel court here.

This is another milestone for FBA, said prexy Edgar Mendoza. The tournament witnessed one of the best championship games in the history of FBA, Mendoza added.

Mendoza together with Commissioner Jonathan Canda and Technical Director Noel Miguel expressed their sincerest thanks and appreciation to the sponsors of the event, led by major sponsor Nokia Asha through Paul Nehme, Nokia Asha marketing manager in KSA & Yemen, and including Toya of Pinehill Arabia Food Limited of Tayyab Ali Butt, marketing Assistant, House of Donuts (Nassier Group) of Samir Nassier, Palson Household Appliances by Issa Samhan, sales manager; and Ali Café of Rafael Villa Castin, brand manager. The tournament also enjoys the full support of Team-Up Events management headed by CEO Mustafa Al-Saady and the management of Sheraton Jeddah Hotel led by Ramy S. Kurdi.

Climaxing the championship games was the best-of-three series finale between Samco-Marogong and Friendster in the Inter-Commercial Open Rated Division in which Samco defeated Friendster 95-91. The match recorded 3 deadlocks. Ryan Reyes of Samco was best player of the game with 27 points. Boyet Bautista added 21 points, Joseph Ubalde 19 and Raymond Matias 9 points, while James Smith scored 21 points, Christian Guimpatan 18, Roy David 15, Tom Basa 12 and Jorge Pascual 8 for Friendster.

FBA executives and Filipino community leaders including former Kasapi Chairman Boy Cornejo distributed awards to the following:

Inter-Commercial Open Rated Division – Champion team SAMCO-Marogong, 1st runner-up Friendster, 2nd runner-up Code Red-Shadow Lounge, 3rd runner-up Faisal Park; MVP Boyet Bautista; Mythical Five Bautista and Ryan Reyes (Best Guards) Joseph Ubalde (Best Center), Tom Basa and Christian Guimpatan (Best Forwards); James Smith (Most Defensive Player), Elmer Goze (Best Coach), Glen Berdin & Leo Reparado (Best Manager); Special awards: Most Disciplined Player (Greason) & Individual Sportsmanship Award (Diego Domalogdog).

Inter-Company Bona fide Division Group A – Champion Team Al-Hamrani RBF, 1st runner-up AVK Wild Boys, 2nd runner-up Hanco-Olive Arabia, 3rd runner-up Nesma Holding Co.; MVP MJ Mercado; Mythical Five Nabong and Framo (Best Guards) Mercardo (Best Center), Jolly Tilo and Jimenez (Best Forwards) Robert Jose (Best Coach and Best Manager); Special awards: Most Disciplined Player (Archie Santos) and Individual Sportsmanship Award (Mohamad Ahmed).

Inter-Company Bona fide Division Group B – Champion Team Avengers, 1st runner-up New Breed Swag, 2nd runner-up Setra, 3rd Runner-up IPA-Marogong; MVP Elmer Geniza; Mythical Five Naz and Junsay (Best Guards), Harry Santiago (Best Center) Geniza and JR (Best Forwards), George Feliciano (Best Coach), Peter Roa and Bugz Ferrer (Best Manager); Special award: Individual Sportsmanship Award (Sarangay).

The next tournament of FBA, the 35th season, is scheduled to start on Nov. 8. According to Mendoza as of this date there are a number of teams that already secured their participation. For other interested parties please email at [email protected] .