2 - 8 May 2002
Issue No.584
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Green giants
Hooliganism could not deter Gezira from the basketball league title, writes Nashwa Abdel-Tawab
Amid a shower of debris and upended chairs, Gezira beat Ittihad 95-92 to win the basketball league title for the third time in its history. Ittihad fans who made the trip from their hometown of Alexandria to Cairo's indoor complex, threw bottles on the court and unhinged the stadium's chairs after the whistle. They were particularly incensed when Gezira's Mohamed El-Kerdani made a V for victory sign in the last 30 seconds.
The long arm of Gezira's centre photo:Mohamed Abul-Enain
Ittihad was later fined LE26,000 and the Egyptian Basketball Federation (EBF) is discussing whether it should bar Ittihad from hosting this year's Arab Championship.
Even though the court had by game's end been strewn with debris, the Gezira players insisted on being awarded their medals right then and there.
That Ittihad fans ran riot last week has precedents. Last year, when Ittihad lost to Ahli in the final, there were similar scenes of destruction of property and sheer chaos.
In last week's match, Gezira's win in the final of the 28th national basketball league season was helped by the three- point shooting of Fathi Abdel-Aziz. Gezira's victory followed league titles in 1993 and 1994 plus the 1996 African Cup Championship and the 2000 Arab Cup Championship.
Their string of successes is all the more significant since Gezira does not have an arena of its own and is forced to play in Cairo's indoor hall. The lack of a home court, however, has forced the men who wear green to raise the level of their game in away matches -- which they did against Ahli, Zamalek and Ittihad two weeks ago.
Ittihad is still ahead on the all-time list of league winners with 12 crowns. Zamalek has 10 and Ahli three.
In this year's standings, Zamalek finished third, Ahli fourth, Shams fifth and Tanta sixth. But Shams and Tanta players went away with the most individual awards. Shams's Osama Sayed won the cup for most free throws, Tanta's Mustafa Atef won the three- pointers trophy and Walid Fouad of Tanta was the league's top scorer.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page