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Mike Chan

Chasing glory on several fronts has caught up with basketball club Hong Kong Eastern, who this week found themselves having to be in two places at once.
Players are flying to and from Manila several times to keep up with a schedule that at one point has them playing three times in 45 hours – gruelling even without matches being on opposite sides of the South China Sea.
Having sealed the local A1 Division regular season championship on Sunday, Eastern departed for the Philippines on Tuesday for their fifth East Asia Super League (EASL) group game, a match they must win to keep their Final Four dream alive.
However, some of the players will then jet back to Hong Kong after the Wednesday night encounter against the San Miguel Beermen to play on Thursday night in the playoff semi-finals of the local league in Wan Chai.

Several of the team then head back to Manila for a Friday afternoon fixture in the Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup, before the whole squad regather in Hong Kong afterwards.
Canadian centre Chris McLaughlin said the travelling was “tiring” despite it being a short flight to Manila.
“[The flight may be] just a couple hours, but in reality it is much more than that,” he said. “A typical travel day will have us at the airport in the early morning, 7am.
“We will land in the afternoon, wait for immigration, wait for bags, battle the Manila traffic, drop our bags off at the hotel and get ready to head to practice. By the time we get back to the hotel and get some physio, it is time to get to sleep.”
He added that they had to leave for the airport at 3.30am after their last PBA game earlier this month.
Stephen Chan Siu-wing, the team’s co-captain, said: “I enjoy having three or four games in a week, but it is the travel that is exhausting.
“We usually travel to the Philippine early in the morning and get back to Hong Kong around 4am,” the 32-year-old said. “But I believe we are getting used to it.
“I believe playing more games helps us grow as players.”
Eastern are expected to handle their Filipino opponents comfortably, given the eliminated Beermen are winless in four EASL matches this season and sit bottom of Group A.
In the local league, Eastern – table-toppers and undefeated in nine matches – will face Winling in a best-of-three series starting on Thursday.

And completing the three-match swing in two cities inside two days, Eastern will play bottom PBA side Terrafirma Dyip in the Commissioner’s Cup on Friday.
While head coach Mensur Bajramovic would not reveal which players would need to fly back and forth, team leader Wilson Choi Fong-yue hinted only those players who were not eligible to play in the local league would be spared that trip to Hong Kong.
This means that the likes of co-captain Adam Xu, Chan, McLaughlin, Glen Yang, Marco Leung Ka-hin and Simba Pok Yuet-yeung could be among those booked for the extra flights.
Eastern could face the same dilemma later this month if they reach the local league playoff final. The opening match of the best-of-five series falls on January 26 – the same day Eastern are due to play Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots in the PBA.
The crucial final EASL group game against the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots in Taiwan on February 5 is also sandwiched between games two and three of the local playoffs, which are scheduled at Southorn Stadium on February 4 and 6 respectively.


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East Asia Super League

‘If it’s Friday, this must be Manila’: Hong Kong Eastern basketball team’s mad 48 hours

Canadian centre Chris McLaughlin (left) said Eastern’s travelling would be tiring. Photo: EASL

Hong Kong Eastern face three matches in three competitions in less than 48 hours. Photo: Eastern

Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic would not say which players would fly back and forth. Photo: EASL

Hong Kong footballers ‘hoping’ a Premier League club joins mainland China competition

Hong Kong’s Alex Jojo (left) playing against Uzbekistan at the Asian Games in 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

Jesse Yu (right) in action during last year’s home Guangdong-Hong Kong Cup clash. Photo: Elson Li

Anson Wong (No 8) playing against Uzbekistan at the Asian Games in 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

Footballers leaving Hong Kong for mainland China warned of pitfalls by player who tried it

Hong Kong’s under-23 players celebrate their upset win over Iran in the Asian Games quarter-finals in 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

Remi Dujardin in training ahead of playing for Hong Kong at the 2018 Asian Games. Photo: Chan Kin-wa

Dujardin (second left) in 2018, with (from left) Matt Orr, Ngan Cheuk-pan and Chan Pak-hei. Photo: Chan Kin-wa

Sport

Basketball

Hong Kong

Eastern players become frequent fliers as they zigzag between Hong Kong and the Philippines to pursue success in multiple competitions


Eastern players become frequent fliers as they zigzag between Hong Kong and the Philippines to pursue success in multiple competitions.


‘If it’s Friday, this must be Manila’: Hong Kong Eastern basketball team’s mad 48 hours

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Eastern players become frequent fliers as they zigzag between Hong Kong and the Philippines to pursue success in multiple competitions

Eastern players become frequent fliers as they zigzag between Hong Kong and the Philippines to pursue success in multiple competitions