Five participants were chosen via lucky draw to participate in the half-time shootout. One lucky contestant, Mr. Wuttichai Ployjinda made the most baskets and won the coveted trip with the Thailand Tigers. Mr Wuttichai said he was very happy and slightly nervous after winning the prize as it would be the first time he would be flying and visiting a foreign country.

Travelling with the team to Malaysia on 12 December, Mr Wuttichai mentioned that the players were excited during the trip and did not look nervous. He mentioned that travelling with the team was the best experience – “It was my first time to fly international and actually to fly at all. I was so nervous, but travelling with the team was great! I love basketball and was very excited to be so close with my star Thai players”.

Besides the trip, Mr Wuttichai was also given two VIP tickets to the match. With one win and one loss against the KL Dragons, Mr Wuttichai was hoping for his team to win the match, but the KL Dragons took the lead early in the match and moved on to win the match 88 – 69 against the Thailand Tigers.

Mr Wuttichai said that the outcome of the match was not as he had hoped – “The game was ok, but it did not go how I thought it would. I think they (Thailand Tigers) can play better than this. I believed the Tigers had bad luck today”.

After the match, Mr Wuttichai followed the team to dinner, where he thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the players. He mentioned that the players were sad about losing the match, but that winning and losing in sports is normal. He will definitely continue supporting the Thailand Tigers – “I believe they’re going to win their next game and I am going to see them playing their next game in Bangkok for sure”.

Mr Wuttichai said that the players were somber on the trip back to Thailand, but they were still looking forward to the next match and the chance to get back in winning form. Mr Wuttichai thanked the ABL and Thailand Tigers for the trip, and looks forward to seeing the league’s development - “I would like to see more games live and I believe there will be many more basketball fans in Thailand and other Asean countries. Even if I can’t make it for the live matches, I look forward to seeing the matches on TV. Thank you very much for the prize, it was much more then see the game, and the experience to fly for first time!”.

For more information, please contact Mr Kuhan Foo, Chief Executive Officer of the ASEAN Basketball League at +6012 331 1398 or email kuhan@aseanbasketballleague.com, or Samantha Surin, Marketing at +6016 219 8847 or email samantha@aseanbasketballleague.com.