Eid Al-Fitr Invitational Cup basketball tilt opens today

Shadow Lounge-Juffali Carrier and Friendster face off in a potentially explosive game with the winner to guarantee a Jeddah spot in the final against either Laguna Lakers of Riyadh or Dammam’s FAEC (Fahad Alireza Engineering Consultants) in the 1st ISA-FBL Eid Al-Fitr Invitational Cup which opens today at the Industrial City Dawah Office (ICDO) court in Industrial City Phase I on the outskirts of Jeddah.
Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah has been invited as guest of honor and speaker during the opening ceremony to the two-day basketball exhibition event that marks the return of a full regional in the Industrial City thanks to the collaborative effort of Industrial Sports Association and Filsama Basketball League.
Labor Attache Alejandro Padain will also attend the event. Among the VIP guests expected are sponsors’ representatives including Franco Arive, Power Root (Ali Café) marketing manager and Brand Manager Rafael Villacastin, and Enjaz-Western Union Regional Marketing Supervisor Turki Osama Turki.
Ali Café and Enjaz-Western Union are the event major sponsors along with Basamh Trading-Perfetto.
The minor sponsors are Sky Freight Forwarders through GM Emy de Guzman, Butler Juffali Co. through Robert Maranan, and Jotun Paints through Raul Negradas.
The individual donors are Project Convenor Kirt Einstein, Alex Bedia of Compass Ocean Logistics, Habib Abubaker of Luna, Patsoy, Rene Ocampo of Hal Consultants and Omar Salvacion of SAM Foundation.
ABS CBN-TFC, Arab News, ISA, FBA, FBL and PBOC-Jeddah also support the event.
Butler Juffali and Jotun Paints contributed their share of the sponsorship by helping refurbish the court and installing additional stands for the benefit of the spectators.
In anticipation of the crush of people organizers said the gates will open as early as 4:30 p.m. today although the program proper does not start until 7 p.m. Goody Viagedor and Janus Gella are the emcees while Willy Cartagena will do the live commentary of the games.
The first game on opening day will be a rematch of the best-of-three for the FBL 7th Conference Open Rated championship won by Shadow Lounge over Friendster.
Veteran coach Boy Corsega will again call the shots at Shadow Lounge-Juffali with Numeriano Amang Catador, his former understudy, to coach Friendster.
The Riyadh and Dammam teams clash in the second game.
The first day winners play for the cup and bragging rights as the best Filipino basketball outfit in the Kingdom. Losers battle for third place in the first game of the second day.