Basketball

The second National University Basketball Championship will begin on December 4 in Hà Nội. — Photos of organisers

HÀ NỘI — The best 14 teams will compete in the National University Basketball Championship Finals from December 4 to 9 in Hà Nội.

After qualifications in three regions, North, Central and South that featured nearly 140 teams, organisers found the eight strongest male teams and six female.

The number of people taking part has increase by 35 per cent compared to last season.

On the women's side, hosts Hà Nội National University of Education will play Đà Nẵng University and Việt Nam National University Hà Nội in Group C.

Defending champion Tôn Đức Thắng University, Foreign Trade University and HCM City University of Economics and Finance will compete in Group D.

Organisers conduct the draw for the National University Basketball Championship.

On the men's side, reigning champions RMIT will defend their title against HCM City University of Education, Hà Nội National University of Education, and University of Transport and Communications in Group B.

Đà Nẵng University, Foreign Trade University, Việt Nam Maritime University and Hoa Sen University are drawn in Group A.

Among them, the Maritime University take part in the finals for the first time.

"Last year, we worked really hard to compete in the championship. This year, we have to work harder because defending a title is always much more difficult than winning one and the pressure will be higher," said Nguyễn Phạm Huy Nguyên, a representative of RMIT, at a press briefing on November 3.

"Luckily, we passed the qualification and now we will strongly be focused to have highest result in the final round."

The second tournament is jointly held by the Ministry of Education and Training's Physique Education Department, Max Sports (MSE) and Vietcontent following a long-term partnership which is sponsored by Doppelherz, Động Lực Group and Bản Việt Bank.

All matches will be livestream on https://www.facebook.com/nuc.basketball, https://www.facebook.com/bongrotv; and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxOfzcmP4gnkYqB4jD98Fww. — VNS