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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Egypt throughout
IN AN all-Egyptian final, Gezira pipped Ahli 53-51 for the Arab Basketball Club Champion-hip. With one minute remaining Gezira was down 51-49 but Ahmed Saqr's last-minute he-oics proved the deciding factor. The rookie made a basket to level the game, stole the ball and sparked a fast break that added another two points for the eventual champions.
A lay up and an easy two points for Ahli in the final
Ahli, tournament favourites, dominated the first 10 minutes and were up 17-4 when Gezira turned the tables, getting to within a point, 31-30, by half time. Neither team could put the ball in the hoop for the first eight minutes of the second half before scoring sprees on both sides began, leading to the climactic finale.
Al-Hekma of Lebanon, the defending champions, prevented an Egyptian sweep, beating the Arab Academy of Alexandria 77-72 for third place.
If Egypt dominated the men's edition, Tunisia had its way in the women's game. Safaqes of Tunisia took the cup, beating fellow club Al-Zaytouna. Egypt's Ahli had to settle for third.
Twenty men's teams and eight women's teams competed in the two-week tournament in the United Arab Emirates, the 14th of its kind for the men and 10th for females. Egypt's women squads featured Ahli, Sporting of Alexandria and Shooting.
In the men's event, the teams were divided into two groups as Ahli topped its division followed by Al-Hekma while Gezira came first in its group followed by the Arab Academy. "While the men performed well, the women needed to do much better if they wanted to get by the Tunisians," Mohamed Omran, head of the Arab Basketball Federation, said.
