Soc Trang and Ho Chi Minh City win National Basketball Championships 2023

The male team of Soc Trang Province and female team of Ho Chi Minh City proved their superior as they successfully defended their championship titles in 5x5 event at the 2023 National Basketball Championships ending at Khanh Hoa Provincial Sports Arena recently.

Final game between SocTrang (yellow jersey) and Ho Chi Minh City (green jersey)

The men’s event saw the exciting and thrilling competition between SocTrang and Ho Chi Minh City. In the first two quarters, Ho Chi Minh City with a line-up consisting mostly of young players played better with accurate attacks and effective defense. Meanwhile, despite having many outstanding players of Vietnam’s professional basketball tournament (VBA) such as Kim Ban, Minh Tam, Phu Vinh, Vinh Quang, Soc Trang struggled in the first two quarters. After the two quarters, Ho Chi Minh led Soc Trang by 9 points (42-33). 
After the break, Soc Trang displayed magnificently and gradually reduced the point gap. Besides, the stamina of Ho Chi Minh City players went down in the last two quarters, contributing to the better performances of Soc Trang in these two quarters. Player Vo Kim Ban played excellently in the last two quarters. He performed many accurate 3-point shots for Soc -Trang. Finally, Soc Trang overcame Ho Chi Minh City 79-72 and claimed the championship. This was the third time in a row Soc Trang won men’s event at national tournaments.

Soc Trang win men’s event

Ho Chi Minh City win women’s event

In women’s event, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho T&T had been leveled on 6 points after 3 games before entering the final game. Finally, after more than 1 hour of competition, Ho Chi Minh City defeated Can Tho T&T with the score 65-51 and secured the championship. With this win, Ho Chi Minh City kept proving their superiority in women’s basketball in Vietnam. They have won 11 consecutive editions of this tournament. 

As said by Nguyen Tuan Thanh, deputy director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Culture and Sports, the players in this year's tournament had relatively same level compared to the previous ones because they had gained experience through many national tournaments and VBA. The 2023 National Basketball Championship not only showed the strong development of this sport in the localities in Vietnam but was also a driving force for Khanh Hoa's basketball movement. Nha Trang Dolphins of Khanh Hoa Province finished second in VBA 2023. This can be a favorable condition to further develop basketball movement as well as professional basketball of Khanh Hoa.

An Nhien
Translated by H.N