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Rethymno Friendly Tournament (Greece, October 3-5, 2014)

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  • Rethymno Friendly Tournament (Greece, October 3-5, 2014)

    Nice to finally see the chance for a Lebanese team to play against one of the top teams in Euroleague.

    BEIRUT: Lebanese champions Riyadi Beirut are set to face 2013 Euroleague Champions and Greek giants Olympiakos in October, during a friendly basketball tournament hosted by Rethymno in Greece, from Oct. 3-5. Alongside Riyadi and Olympiakos, the tournament features both Greek A1 sides PAOK and hosts A.G.O Rethymno.

    “It’s a great opportunity for our club and the Lebanese basketball. We are working under the same strategy that moves Riyadi to another level. We are looking for new horizons in Europe, and two years ago we participated in Groningen tournament in Netherlands,” club manager Mazen Tabbara told The Daily Star.

    Lebanese basketball has reached great heights in the past decade through the men’s national team, which took part in the World Championship three times and faced several top nations like Serbia, Spain, Lithuania, Turkey, Argentina, and France. But the local clubs have rarely played at this advanced level except for Sagesse’s memorable participation in the Mcdonalds Championship (the World club’s championship) in 2000.

    Riyadi participated in the Groningen friendly tournament in the Netherlands two seasons ago, but the upcoming tournament in October will see the Lebanese champions face one of the best clubs in European and Greek history, Olympiakos.

    “It’s very important to see our level in comparison to the European level. This is a great chance for our club and players to face such teams with great history,” Tabbara added.

    “Lebanese basketball deserves to play at his level after all its improvement in the recent years. Our main aim is to raise the Lebanese flag once again in the biggest scenes.”

    Olympiakos Piraeus have won the Euroleague three times, with the last coming in 2013, while they have won the Greek Championship 10 times.

    Last year, they reached the quarterfinals of the Euroleague before falling at the hands of Real Madrid in the best-of-five-series 3-2, and they also lost to traditional rivals Panathinaikos in the finals of the Greek A1 Championship.

    PAOK Thessaloniki are also a well-known side in Greek basketball, as they finished fourth last season, and are two-time Greek Champions. They have also featured in the Euroleague several times.

    Rythemno finished ninth in the domestic league last season.

    It is no secret that Riyadi are attempting through a wild card to participate in the Adriatic league which is a professional league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia, though that could be a long process.

    “We are still trying. But not for this year, maybe the next one,” Tabbara revealed.

    Riyadi took a major twist by appointing former Olympiakos and Panathinaikos head coach Slobodan Subotic to their helm. Subotic led the Beirut side to regain the league title after beating arch-rivals Sagesse 4-2 last season.

    The tournament will be the perfect preparation for Riyadi before the Arab clubs Championship which will tip off Oct. 22 in Morocco. They will be aiming to secure their sixth title.

  • #2
    Update regarding this:

    Translation of Article (with some assistance from google translate as well ):

    Everything is ready for the 4th International "Petros Oikonomakis" Tournament which will take place from 2-5 October in Rethymnon involving great teams like Olympiakos, PAOK, the Unics Kazan and Al Riyadh.

    For the 4th consecutive year the "Melina Mercouri" Stadium in Rethymno has arranged to receive great teams for this tournament. Everything is ready for the 4th International Tournament "Petros Oikonomakis" which as officially informed the JSA will take place from 2nd to 5th October, three time European champion Olympiakos, PAOK, the Russian Cup winner Unics Kazan and Lebanese Champions Al Riyadh.

    Details NAV announcement states:

    "With the participation of Unics Kazan the list of teams has been finalized which will take part in the 4th International Tournament" Petros Oikonomakis "to be held in the gymnasium" Melina Mercouri "from 2-5 of October.

    The Russian team was founded in 1991 and has won, despite recent history, one Eurocup (2011), 1 FIBA Europa League (2004) and three Russian Cups (2003, 2009, 2014). The Russian Cup winner is one of the best teams in Europe, while their coach is an old friend of Rethymno Aegean, Argyris Pedoulakis.
    Also on the roster of the team are two international and national team basketball, Nikos Zissis and Kostas Kaimakoglou.

    A reminder that the 4th International Tournament "Petros Oikonomakis" has already declared the participation of three time European champion Olympiakos, PAOK, current Lebanese champion Al Riyadi and of course our team, Rethymno Aegean.

    The tournament schedule is as follows:

    Thursday 02/10/14

    19:00 Rethymno Aegean - Al Riyadi

    Friday 03/10/14

    16:30 PAOK - Unics Kazan

    19:00 Rethymno Aegean - Olympiakos

    Saturday 04/10/14

    16:00 Olympiakos - Unics Kazan

    18:30 PAOK - Al Riyadi

    Sunday 05/10/14

    16:00 Rethymno Aegean - PAOK

    Όλα είναι έτοιμα για το 4ο Διεθνές τουρνουά 'Πέτρος Οικονομάκης' που θα λάβει χώρα από τις 2-5 Οκτωβρίου στο Ρέθυμνο με τη συμμετοχή σπουδαίων ομάδων όπως ο Ολυμπιακός, ο ΠΑΟΚ, η Ούνιξ Καζάν και η Αλ Ριγιάντι.

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    • #3
      7’0” Serbian center Dejan Kravic (1990) had a monster game today dominating his matchup with former-NBA player, Loren Woods, by going off for game-highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds in Rethimno Aegean’s 84-77 victory over Lebanese club, Al Riyadi!

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      • #4
        Originally posted by serbianhoops View Post
        7’0” Serbian center Dejan Kravic (1990) had a monster game today dominating his matchup with former-NBA player, Loren Woods, by going off for game-highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds in Rethimno Aegean’s 84-77 victory over Lebanese club, Al Riyadi!
        Yes but former NBA player is what is crucial Loren is 36 years old now and way past his peak... Great game for Kravic non the less...

        Riyadi managed to play hard with both Rethimno and PAOK but lost both games in OT (first game in 1 OT and the 2nd in 2 OT's even though they had a chance to win both games).

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