Qingdao, Oct. 27 (By Liu Wenchao, Qingdaonews.com) -- The "Qilu Heroes Championship" · 2025 Shandong Provincial Men's Basketball League officially kicked off at the Pingyuan County Gymnasium in Dezhou on October 24.
In the welcome speech, a relevant official stated that the tournament marks a significant event in the development of basketball throughout the province. Sports events like this ignite the city's passion and drive consumption upgrades. "The sports industry has become a new, green engine for boosting economic growth, meeting the needs of the people, and building a prosperous Pingyuan," he said.
It is understood that the qualifiers for this year's Shandong Provincial Men's Basketball League are divided into three major divisions: Central Shandong, Western Shandong, and Eastern Shandong. Pingyuan County in Dezhou belongs to the Central Shandong division, which features six teams from Dezhou, Binzhou, and Linyi. The competition will run for six days, from October 24 to 29, at the Pingyuan County Gymnasium and the Xingyuan Culture & Tourism Stadium at Pingyuan No. 1 Middle School. The Western Shandong division (7 teams) and the Eastern Shandong division (6 teams) will hold their matches in Linqing, Liaocheng, and the Qingdao Conson National Fitness Center, respectively, with both divisions set to begin on October 27.
According to the rules, the top three teams from each major division will advance directly to the provincial finals. The fourth and fifth-placed teams from each division will compete in a play-off for one additional promotion spot. The champion, runner-up, and third-place teams in the divisional competitions will receive prize money of 25,000 yuan, 15,000 yuan, and 10,000 yuan, respectively. The 12 qualifying teams from the three divisions will join last year's champion and runner-up for the final stage of the competition. Ultimately, the overall champion team will be awarded 200,000 yuan, the runner-up 100,000 yuan, and the third-place team 50,000 yuan.
The Shandong Provincial Men's Basketball League is a top-tier provincial amateur basketball tournament hosted by the Shandong Provincial Basketball Association, with participation from various municipal basketball associations, and is exclusively operated by Shandong Lanlian Sports Culture Co., Ltd. The event has been successfully held for three editions since 2022, with the level of competition improving each year. The 2024 season featured over 20 retired CBA professional players, turning the event into a national professional basketball hotspot at the time.
Gong Xiaobin, president of the Shandong Provincial Basketball Association, said in an interview: "As a major province for basketball, the level of our league is quite high. We hope that through better event packaging and promotion, we can attract more people to follow the competition and encourage more people to fall in love with the sport of basketball!"
Editor: Yuan Ruichen
