Lebanon, Egypt dominate Arab basketball championship

By Khalil Hareb in Amman
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-05-08

[-/AFP/Getty Images] Fuad Abu Shaqra, coach of Lebanon's Riyadi Sporting club.

Basketball clubs from across the Arab world gathered in Alexandria for the Arabian Clubs Basketball Championship 2010.

Several teams started off on the right foot Wednesday (May 5th). Ibdae from Palestine won its first match 20-0, netting an easy win against no-show Kahraba from Iraq. On the same day, Lebanon's Moutahed defeated UAE outfit Sharja 97-89. Egypt's Ettehad Sakandary secured their first victory against Libya's Nasser 85-72. In the last game Wednesday, Bahraini Muharraq crushed Tilal 82-61.

On Thursday, Qatar's Garrafa grabbed their first win against Kuwait SC. The two teams looks evenly matched, but Garrafa had the last word and won 91-88. Oman's Ahli Sadab, meanwhile, faced Ittihad Tanger from Morocco in a slow-moving game that saw Sadab defeated 102-71. Riyadi, the Lebanese giant, trashed Sudan's Maktba 102-56. Tunisian outfit ES Sahel also secured a victory over Saudi stars Ansar 77-72. Sahel controlled the last quarter to nail down their first game.

Ettehad Sakandary came back Friday (May 7th) to defeat Yemen's Tilal 111-68 and entertained the fans with a super show. Moutahed beat Ibdae 90-58. Bahraini outfit Muharraq defeated Libyan giant Nasser 80-47.

Football

In the football world, Nasr grabbed third place in the Saudi King Cup of Champions by beating Shabab 3-1 on Thursday. The match started fast, with Nasr scoring within the first 10 minutes. Shabab, meanwhile, didn't let go easily, scoring moments before the break. The second half was spent defending the net, which kept the game at a slow pace. But Nasr's hung on at 3-1 and they managed to go home with the bronze.

On Friday Ittihad met Hilal in the final. The game started smoothly, but with a goalless first half, both teams needed to show better work. Ittihad wasted a perfect chance after the referee gave them a penalty kick in the last minute of the game. The match went to extra time, and by the end it was down to penalties shots to decide the championship. With a lot of focus, Ittihad secured the victory 5-4 and went home with the cup.

Elsewhere in football, Qadsia SC was officially crowned as the champions of the Kuwaiti Football League 2009/2010. Qadsia secured the championship after defeating Kazma 2-0 on Thursday. Qadsia had 48 points, only 2 points ahead of 2nd place Kuwait SC with 46 points. This is the second year in a row Qadsia won the championship, and the 13th time in its history.

Handball

In handball action Thursday, Fahaheel leads the Kuwaiti Handball League 2009/2010. In round 6, Fahaheel beat Shabab 30-25. In other matches, Arabi also had a good round, beating Kuwait SC 34-31. Salmiyah, meanwhile, lost to Salibikhaet 34-32.

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