Bigger, better Champions League eyed

Surpassing last season’s successful inaugural of the Champions League may be a tough act to follow.

Nonetheless, tournament commissioner Ramon Fernandez guarantees a bigger and better staging of the meet that gathers the top teams of the different college leagues around the country is in store this year.

The former cage great made the assurance in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Manila Pavilion, where the second edition of the event was formally launched.

Again working hand-in-hand with chief organizer Joe Lipa, Fernandez said a total of 16 teams are set to see action in this year’s tournament proper that gets underway on Nov. 15 at the Makati Coliseum.

The top four teams from the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), three from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the champion teams of the University and Colleges Athletic Association (UCAA), National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (NAASCU), Colleges and Universities Sports Associations (CUSA) and two teams from Cebu comprise this year’s cast.

The remaining four squads will come from the two qualifying meets the league will hold on Nov. 3-13 in Dumaguete City (Southern qualifying) and Pampanga (Northern qualifying).

"This is going to be exciting since we have more teams seeing action this year," said Fernandez in the public sports program sponsored by Red Bull, Agfa Colors and Pagcor.

University of the East swept Far Eastern U in last year’s finals played before a banner crowd also at the Makati Coliseum.

The 2003 edition of the league will also be televised, according to Fernandez, a factor which he said, helped teams, especially from those of the provinces, to improve their respective games.

"Teams made a conscious effort to enhance their games dahil nga napapanood sila sa TV," he