PER - The quest begins for the prestigious cup in Lima

LIMA (Liga Sudamericana) - The 11th edition of the Liga Sudamericana gets underway on Monday, when eight of the sixteen teams begin their quest for the prestigious cup in Lima and Montevideo.

This year’s edition sees teams divided in four groups of four, with each quartet based in one city on the continent for three consecutive days.

In Lima, Universidad Alas Peruana will host Group A from Monday. Alongside the Peruvians, the group also features Cocodrilos (Venezuela), Provincial Osorno (Chile) and the reigning Liga Nacional champions Gimnasia y Esgrima (Argentina).

Miguel Chavez Bocanegra, a member of the Alas Peruana coaching staff, was optimistic that hosting the tournament will rejuvenate interest in the sport.

"This event will help Peruvian basketball be stronger, by offering a first-class show and making children return to stadiums,” he said.

Provincial Osorno, meanwhile, will be relying heavily on hulking Brazilian, Tiagao.

The centre was part of the Verdeamarelos’ national team at the 2003 South American Championship, alongside Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao.

"It is a unique opportunity Osorno have given to me to play the Liga Sudamericana,” Tiagao said.

"I think we can achieve something big with this squad.”

Monday’s opening round of action will see Cocodrilos play Osorno before Alas Peruanas meet Gimnasia.

The second pool that tips off on Monday is Group D, which features Libertad (Argentina), Olimpia (Uruguay), Uberlandia (Brazil) and Universidad de Concepcion (Chile).

The opening games see hosts Olimpia play Universidad, while Libertad take on Uberlandia.

Groups B and C begin on March 2 when reigning Liga Sudamericana champions Ben Hur (Argentina) host former champions in Rafaela, Santa Fe province alongside Feliz Perez Cardozo (Paraguay), Dimabbol champions Deportivo Nonis (Bolivia) and Rio Claro (Brazil).

Cardozo were originally scheduled to host the group in Asuncion, but both the Paraguayan and South American Basketball Confederations decided to move the venue to Argentina for health reasons.

A serious dengue fever epidemic - an illness caused by the bite of a specific mosquito - is currently sweeping across Paraguay leaving confederation president Carlos Maria Ljubetic to say: "Considering the risks our country is facing due to the dengue fever, the confederation has discussed matters with the South American body.

"As there was no positive solution to our problems, we decided to move it to Rafaela.

"We understand that it would be better to prevent everybody from a very serious danger, because it would be terrible if a mosquito bites a player.”

The other Paraguayan team in this tournament is San Jose, who were drawn in Group C alongside hosts Franca (Brazil), Gatos (Venezuela) and Malvin (Uruguay).

The top two teams in each group will advance to quarter-finals.

FIBA