Pre-season basketball tournament canceled due to Covid-19

By Hoang Nguyen May 7, 2021 | 04:09 pm PT

A Saigon Heat player at a Vietnam Basketball Association tournament. Photo courtesy of Vietnam Basketball Association.

Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA) has decided to cancel the pre-season Tip-Off Cup due to the new Covid-19 outbreak.

Tip-Off Cup 2021, scheduled to take place from May 16 to 23, is considered a warm-up event for the VBA national basketball league this year.

"After a VBA discussion, the organizers have decided to cancel Tip-Off Cup 2021 and all related activities. This is an extremely difficult decision, considering this is the first year for VBA to introduce Tip-Off Cup to the fans. However, we always put the safety of the community, athletes, coaches and staff first so we chose to call off the tournament. VBA hopes to bring the tournament back as soon as possible when the situation is under control," the association said Thursday.

Although the pre-season event is canceled, the VBA national basketball championship is still on. It is expected to take place from June 4 to Aug. 31. In this season of VBA, each team is allowed to field two foreign players though their combined height is limited to four meters.

Vietnam has recorded 121 Covid-19 community cases in 15 localities since the new wave started on April 27. Nearly all sports competitions in the country were postponed to guarantee pandemic prevention measures.