Basketball: Hong Kong Eastern hire former rival Mensur Bajramovic as new head coach
- Asean Basketball League champions tie up replacement just days after announcing departure of former boss Zeljko Pavlicevic
- ‘He’s very strict in his training, and I hope our young local players will benefit from this,’ Eastern officials says
Days after announcing the departure of former head coach Zeljko Pavlicevic, local A1 Division basketball team Hong Kong Eastern have tied up their replacement.
The reigning Asean Basketball League (ABL) champions have appointed Mensur Bajramovic, who previously coached league rivals South China from 2018 to 2021, as their new head coach.
The Bosnian, who started his coaching career in 1998, is already in the city and will make an appearance at the team’s exhibition game against the Macau Black Bears at Southorn Stadium on Friday.
Senior officials at Eastern expressed gratitude towards Pavlicevic, who left the club by mutual consent and said “the timing is right” for a new start.
“A coaching change during the off-season makes most sense,” Eastern official Wilson Choi Fong-yue said. “It’s a necessary change too, as we are going to focus even more on growing the local crop of players.”