Relegated for 2026 season, former NBL Div 1 basketball champions Adroit win opening game

SINGAPORE – Next to a promotion banner for a youth tournament at the Singapore Basketball Centre is another urging those involved in the sport to “uphold fair play” and “say no to match-fixing”.

Over 14 months have lapsed since the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau’s (CPIB) match-fixing probe in August 2025 that shook the local basketball scene, though the aftermath is still evident on and off the court in Aljunied.

National Basketball League (NBL) Division 1 champions (2024, 2025) Adroit saw their hopes of completing a hat-trick of titles end in controversy last season, and on Oct 24 they found themselves starting the new term in Division 2.

While some senior players such as Wong Zhong Han, Leon Kwek and Toh Qing Huang have departed, they still retained plenty of fire power in seasoned campaigners like Larry Liew and Wu Qingde.

Led by their veterans, they trounced Sin Kee 103-53 in their opening game as talented youngsters such as 16-year-old perimeter threat Hui Long Luc scored a game-high 27 points and six treys, while 18-year-old forward Chase Clark and 22-year-old guard Thiha Htin also impressed.

Adroit coach Pek Chi Peng is hoping that the blend of experience and youth can take them back to the top.

Stressing that it will be a challenge owing to “three generation of players in the seniors, under-23s and under-18s”, the national assistant coach said: “What the youngsters lack in experience, they make up for it with their energy and defence, and we hope the senior players will be able to guide them through the season.

“The team have taken a hit morale-wise because many of the seniors have played together for a number of years. A few of them had wanted to retire as a group but some decided to play on to try and take the team back to Division 1 before letting the young guns run the show.

“But the mood in training has been positive. They have trained well, showed good chemistry and I like how the team have bonded. The relegation is BAS’ (Basketball Association of Singapore) decision and we just have to abide by it, move on and do our part as a team to take the club back to its glory days.”

After joining the NBL in 2013, Adroit won three Division 1 championships before they were hit by the match-fixing scandal.

Last August, CPIB announced the arrest of eight Singaporeans and one permanent resident for their suspected involvement in match-fixing in the NBL.

While allowing the league to continue, the BAS stated then that “any officials or players under arrest or who have been arrested will be immediately suspended from all league activities”.

It issued suspension letters to eight players – two each from Adroit, Tagawa, Tong Whye and Chong Ghee. But Adroit questioned the BAS’ grounds of suspension, claiming that no charges had been filed against their two players in question.

On the day of the semi-final against Siglap, the duo were allowed to play after signing declaration forms which stated they had not been arrested for any offence, and did not have any holding charges against them in relation to match-fixing.

But in September 2025, a BAS disciplinary committee found that the earlier suspension notices were valid and effective and both players were ineligible to compete in the semi-final, thus disqualifying Adroit.

In July 2026, two foreign players previously registered with Adroit were banned for life by world basketball governing body FIBA for match-fixing.

The BAS said that Ukrainians Oleksandr Kolchenko and Sergii Pryimak were found to have manipulated the club’s game against New Taipei Kings International, and Kolchenko was found to have further manipulated their game against Hi Tech Club during the Basketball Champions League Asia-East in May 2025.

As the dust settles, the Adroit players just want to play ball.

Clark, a 1.97m player born to a Canadian father and Singaporean-Chinese mother in the Republic, said: “We never really talked about what happened and there’s been a lot of positivity going into the new season.

“We have more youth players now and we should be better on defence because we have more energy throughout the game. The uncs (slang for uncles) tire out more easily so the youngsters should do more work on court.

“I’m currently with the 3x3 national training squad and I’m looking forward to develop and play well enough to earn a professional contract and play in overseas competitions.”

Senior shooting guard Ng Hanbin is heartened by how the team have “stuck together during this challenging time”.

The 37-year-old said: “A few senior players couldn’t commit due to work obligations, so we are taking this opportunity to groom the younger players, and it’s going to be exciting to see them step up to fill the roles this season.

“Our goal is to win Division 2 and return to Division 1 next season.”

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.