Lebanon's Beirut was crowned champion of the Arab Basketball Clubs in the 35th edition after defeating Morocco's Salé 86/75 in the final match held this evening in the Qatari Al-Gharafa Hall. Despite the Lebanese superiority throughout, the Moroccan team was a strong opponent, especially in the third and fourth periods, and succeeded in reducing the difference of 17 points at the end of the second period to 9 points in the final minutes, but the experience of the Beirut quartet, captain Ali Haider, the playmaker Ali Mezher, Sergio Darwish, the best player in the tournament, and the giant Julian Gamble, ended the match in favor of the Lebanese team.
Beirut advanced in the first and second periods 25/15 and 17/10 and Salé in the second period 27/21 while the fourth period ended in a draw 23/23
Ramon, the professional player from Salé, scored the highest score with 32 points, followed by Sergio Darwish from Beirut with 24 points, and his colleague Julian Campbell with 18 points.
Beirut also scored 30 points from inside the area, compared to 20 for the Moroccan team, and was also the best in rebounding with a rate of 44, including 32 in defense, compared to 37 for Salé and 21 in defense. Beirut also excelled in assists, by 20 to 13, while Salé excelled in the three-point shots by 9 compared to 6 for Salé
The Bronze Medal for Kuwait
In the match for third and fourth places, Kuwait, the champion of the previous edition, defeated Al-Ahly of Egypt, the African champion 87/84, and won the bronze medal.
Following the final match, Sheikh Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Thani, Major General Ismail Al Karkawi, President of the Arab and Emirati Basketball Federations, and Nadim Hakim, Vice President of the Arab Federation and President of the Beirut Club, handed over gold medals to the Beirut players and the administrative and technical staff. Al Karkawi also handed the championship cup to Captain Ali Haider, and he was also keen to honor the Lebanese international referees Rabah Njeim and the Iraqi Ahmed Choueiri after their frustration in the recent World Cup finals. While Dr. Magdy Abu Freikha, Vice-President of the Arab Federation, President of the Egyptian Federation, and Abdul Rahman Al-Mossaad, Vice-President of the Arab Federation, handed over silver medals to the Salé team. Brigadier General Abdullah Shalabi, Secretary-General of the Arab Federation, also honored the tournament referees.
Stars of the Championship
As for the stars of the tournament, Beirut player Sergio Darwish won the best player award, his teammate Jean-Marc, the three-point scorer, and Salé Agboub, the tournament’s top scorer.
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