New EASL season to tip-off with Suwon KT Sonicboom taking on San Miguel Beermen

Home > Sports > Basketball

New EASL season to tip-off with Suwon KT Sonicboom taking on San Miguel Beermen

Published: 01 Oct. 2024, 13:47 Updated: 01 Oct. 2024, 15:53

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

The 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL), featuring 10 basketball teams from across Asia, tips off Wednesday with KBL side Suwon KT Sonicboom facing Filipino team San Miguel Beermen in the Philippines.

Sonicboom enters the game following a runner-up finish in the 2023-24 KBL Championship, while the Beermen come off their victory in the 2023-24 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup.

For Sonicboom, Wednesday's game serves as a tune-up ahead of their return to KBL action. The KBL Cup, a preseason tournament, follows shortly after, tipping off on Oct. 5, with the regular 2024-25 KBL campaign beginning on Oct. 19.

The Beermen, meanwhile, will be on the court after losing in the PBA Governor’s Cup quarterfinals to Converge FiberXers on Monday.

Initially launched in March 2023, this year’s EASL has expanded to include two more teams, making it the largest tournament yet.

Alongside Sonicboom, last season’s KBL Championship winners, Busan KCC Egis, will also compete in this year’s EASL, with their first game scheduled against the Macau Black Bears on Nov. 6.

The participating teams also include Taiwan’s New Taipei Kings and Taoyuan Pauian Pilots, Japan’s Hiroshima Dragonflies and Ryukyu Golden Kings, the Philippines’ Meralco Bolts and Hong Kong’s Hong Kong Eastern.

This year’s EASL group stage will follow a home-and-away round-robin format like last season. Sonicboom will face the Beermen, Dragonflies, Pilots and Hong Kong Eastern in Group A, while the remaining teams will compete in Group B. The top two teams from each group will reach the semifinals.

A total of 30 group stage games will run through Feb. 12, 2025, with the semifinals taking place a month later.

This year marks the first time Sonicboom and Egis have participated in the EASL, which has seen strong performances from fellow KBL teams.

The inaugural EASL took place over one week in March 2023, with the revised format running from October 2023 through March this year.

The first EASL featured an all-KBL final between Anyang KGC, now known as the Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Booster, and the Seoul SK Knights, with KGC claiming the title.

In the subsequent final, the Knights reached the final again but finished as runners-up after losing to Japan's Chiba Jets.

Following Wednesday’s game between Sonicboom and the Beermen, Suwon will play their first 2024 KBL Cup game against Egis at Jecheon Gymnasium in Jecheon, North Chungcheong, on Oct. 6.

The two teams will then meet again in the opening game of the 2024-25 regular KBL season on Oct. 19 in Busan. Sonicboom’s first EASL home game against the Pilots will follow on Oct. 23.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]