Photo from San-En NeoPhoenix Twitter
MANILA, Philippines—Several games of the 2021-22 Japan B.League season were suspended, including matches featuring the Filipino players, due to the a number of players testing positive for COVID-19.
San-En’s January 9 game against Hokkaido has been postponed after Levanga point guard Hashimoto Ryoma tested positive for COVID-19.
Hokkaido announced on its website that Hasimoto tested positive in the RT-PCR swab tests after two straight negative results through antigen testing.
“At this point, Hashimoto is waiting for instructions from the health center and he’s avoiding contact with others,” said Levanga on their website. “At this time, no other athlete or team staff has symptoms or a cold. In addition, the RT-PCR test results of all other athletes and team staff have been confirmed to be negative.”
San-En, Thirdy Ravena’s team, sit at the 10th place of the West Conference at 4-22 while Hokkaido is at the seventh seed in the East with an 11-15 slate.
Nagoya, which won 10 of its last 12 games, also had its weekend schedule against Ibaraki postponed after the Robots were put under health and safety protocols as eight of their players were in close contact with a player from Alvark Tokyo who tested positive for COVID-19.
The Diamond Dolphins and Bobby Ray Parks Jr. had a strong run of form the past few weeks climbing to the second seed of the West Conference with an 18-8 record.
Niigata and Kobe Paras won’t be taking on Osaka on Saturday and Sunday after a total of nine players and staff from Evessa tested for COVID-19.