Players compete during the Hangzhou division final between Fuyang district and Shangcheng district of the Zhejiang City Basketball League at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on July 27, 2025. [Photo/IC]

The second Zhejiang City Basketball League, known as ZheBA, will open on June 26 in Wenzhou, with Cangnan playing Longgang, organizers said at a news conference in Hangzhou on June 23.

The upgraded tournament has expanded in scale, competition system, operations, promotion, and integration with culture and tourism. Its provincial championship will grow from 22 to 28 teams, including 11 city select teams and 17 teams representing counties, county-level cities, and districts.

City-level qualifiers will continue to cover all 90 counties, county-level cities, and districts across Zhejiang, with each area forming a team.

All city-level qualifiers must finish by Aug 23. The top team from each prefecture-level city will advance directly to the provincial championship.

The runner-up teams from six populous cities, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jinhua, Taizhou, and Jiaxing, will also qualify. Each prefecture-level city may also form a select team from other participating counties, county-level cities, and districts under its jurisdiction, bringing the provincial championship field to 28 teams.

The city-level qualifiers will use a home-and-away format, with local organizers allowed to choose a single or double round-robin system.

In the provincial championship, the 28 teams will be divided into four groups of seven, playing a home-and-away double round-robin format. The top four teams from each group will enter the knockout stage.

The round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals will be played as best-of-three home-and-away series. The finals will use a best-of-five format and will be held at Huanglong Sports Center Gymnasium in Hangzhou.