Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Basketball Association (APBA) is all set to conduct a two-day trial to select players who would be representing Arunachal in the upcoming national basketball championships.
The trials, for both boys and girls, will be held at the Donyi basketball court in Lower Borum near here from August 21 to 22 next.
Addressing a news conference at the Press Club here on Friday, association president Donyi Eshi Ori said that the APBA finally got its affiliation with the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) and the state’s basketball team has been invited to participate in national level events by the federation.
“With the affiliation finally done, we have decided to conduct the selection trial of players for the upcoming 72nd Senior and Junior National Basketball Championship. We will also be participating in the North East Olympic Games,” Ori said.
The 72nd Senior National Basketball Championship (first phase) for the north east zone would be held at Aizawl, Mizoram from September 13 while the junior event is scheduled to begin from October 14 at Shillong, Meghalaya.
The North East Olympic Games on the other hand will be held at Shillong from October 31 to November 5 next.
This would be the first time that the cagers from Arunachal would officially be taking part in a national basketball event.
“It is a massive achievement for the state as well as APBA to be able to participate in a national championship. We have always dreamed of representing Arunachal at the national level,” he said, while appealing to players of the state to take part in the two-day trial and selection.
Taking the opportunity, Ori also appealed to the state government to come up with a provision of establishing a basketball court within the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR).
The Doniye basketball court in Lower Borum was constructed by Donyi with help from APBA members and a few other well-wishers on self-help basis.
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