One on one

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El-Sabbagh (left) in the final game

AFTER exciting dual matches that reflected advanced individual skills in local basketball, Ahmed El-Sabbagh from Alexandria won the title of "Red Bull King of the Rock", and consequently qualified to represent Egypt in the international finals of the competition in San Francisco in the US.  

The Egyptian championÒêôs win culminated consecutive ²«one on one²» competitions which brought together 32 players with special individual skills in basketball. A week ago Heliopolis Sporting Club in Cairo was a theatre of dual matches whose players had qualified from the two preliminary stages that had 64 participants at Cairo and Alexandria Sporting Clubs.

A special arbitration committee called the results according to simple rules based, for one, on excluding the loser from five-minute matches. Five errors led to automatically excluding the players from the competition. Some of the penalties had an effect on the result.

The sport was not the only winner in the event which took place in Cairo for the first time. All the unique activities were held in a fun atmosphere. But the professional side of the competition showed brightly, as referees were keen to monitor the compliance with the tournament's terms, especially that the level of the competitions will be high in the international finals. 

Regarding the finals, Alcatraz in San Francisco will once again be the site for the international event that in 2010 became the first formal sporting activity held on the island which has been famous for being a fortified prison. Alcatraz will host the third season of the competition on 22 September to represent once more a destination for the pioneers and amateurs of basketball.

Sixty four players from 49 countries throughout the world will participate in the Red Bull finals. The international qualifiers will be held side by side with the Egyptian and the American qualifiers in the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Georgia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jamaica, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, the Black Mountain, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Canada and the Ukraine. The competition is also characterised by the participation of Isaiah "Clutch" Bowman, the title winner of 2010 and Baby Shaq, the winner of 2011.