NEXT week’s FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship in Changsa-Hunan, People’s Republic of China is the 28th of its kind.
However, the biennial tournament was known by a different name during its inaugural competitions in 1960 when the Philippines played host for the first time.
Until 2005, it was called the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) tournament.
Like before, it also was held biennially during odd-numbered years and served as the qualifying tournament for the Summer Olympics and FIBA Basketball World Cup (which until 2014 was known as the World Basketball Championship).
Credit a Filipino, Dionisio (Chito) Calvo, for the formation of the ABC in the late fifties.
Known as the “Father of Philippine Basketball,” Calvo was a member of the Philippine national team that won the 1925 Far Eastern Games (the harbinger of the Asian Games) in Manila. He subsequently became the head coach of the first two PH Olympic squads that ranked fifth – the highest-ever finish by an Asian country until now – during the 1936 Berlin Games and 12th during the 1948 London Games.
Calvo would later become an organizer. He set up the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association (MICAA) in 1938. The semi-professional league lasted until the establishment of the Philippine Basketball Association – Asia’s first pro basketball league – in 1975.
The idea of putting up the Asian Basketball Confederation was initially brought up in August 1958 in a Tokyo hotel coffee shop by six basketball officials from various Asian countries that competed in the 3rd Asian Games held in the Japanese capital.
While basketball was part of the Asian Games calendar, Calvo and company were concerned that it had been relegated to a minor sport.
Thus saw the birth of the ABC, the predecessor of the FIBA Asia Championship.
Through the efforts of Calvo, the first ABC tournament was staged from January 15-28 in 1960 in Manila.
Seven countries saw action in the two-week competitions. They were Taiwan (Nationalist China), Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Malaya (now Malaysia) and the host Philippines.
Along with Pakistan, they also attended the conference at which the draft constitution of the ABC was adopted and the participating nations admitted as members.
Call it homecourt advantage, the 14-man Philippine team romped away with the inaugural ABC tournament in 1960.
The Filipino cagers, who were skippered by all-time great Carlos (Caloy) Loyzaga, won all of their nine assignments at the old Rizal Memorial Coliseum, including a 99-78 shellacking of Taiwan in the titular match.
Mentored by Arturo Rius, the first ABC championship unit also included Emilio Achacoso, Kurt Bachmann, Carlos Badion, Narciso Bernardo, Loreto Carbonell, Edgardo Ocampo, Constancio Ortiz, Leonardo Del Pilar, Roberto Yburan, Nicolas (Tata) Carranceja, Alfonso (Pons) Marquez, Mariano (Nano) Tolentino and Eduardo (Eddie) Lim.
Badion was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
The ABC was not officially founded until the 2nd ABC competitions in Taipei in November 1963 when representatives from nine countries ratified the ABC constitution and bylaws, and elected, among other officials, then-Philippine Senator (and 1936 PH Olympic team captain) Ambrosio (Paddy) Padilla as president and Calvo as secretary-general.
Even though it lost twice in 11 games (losing to Korea, 62-59, and Taiwan, 96-81, during the preliminary round), the Philippines, which was again skippered by Loyzaga, retained the ABC diadem during the eight-nation 1963 edition following a 91-77 decision over host Taiwan in the finals.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Bandera. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.