It has been a long time coming for Delinquents, the champions of the BoB A-League Basketball 2021. Some three years ago, they got promoted from the B-league, reached the semi-finals in their first appearance at the top league, and dominated the entire A-League 2021 season.
It all began in 2007. A group of childhood friends came together to form a basketball team. They named it Delinquents. Since then, there was no looking back. After years of being and playing together, they won the B-league basketball tournament in 2018, qualifying for the A-league.
The following year, Delinquents started their maiden A-League season with a bang – they reached the semi-finals. But the journey was cut short by the more experienced Jachungs.
Taking the defeat as a stepping stone, the team persevered and was determined to make a stronger comeback. And so they did. In the 2021 edition, Delinquents lost only two of the 28 games.
One of the Delinquents players, Lhendup Namgyel, said, “We put in a lot of hard work to get where we are today.”
In the finals, Delinquents defeated Jachungs by two straight games.
Besides being a redemption game, for Delinquents, the finals against Jachungs were about correcting their past mistakes.
Lhendup said their biggest challenge was to slow down the fast-paced Jachungs.
“We had to slow their offensive transition, and I think we were able to do that for most parts of the games.”
“We had to maintain our emotional composure and the mental game too,” he added
For now, Delinquents achieved what they aspired. They are the champions of the top domestic basketball league. So what’s next?
According to the team, as much as they want to think about defending the title, for now, they want to savour the win – something they feel they truly deserved.
“It was a long tournament, almost two months. So right now, we just want to have a good time and enjoy this victory.”
Tshering Dendup
Edited by Sonam Wangdi
