By Sophie Mosleh
The final of the International Basketball Championship was between Bulgaria’s Yambolgas and Egypt’s Olympic team on Sunday night in Amman.
During this game, Bulgaria showed everyone just how much experience this team really has, while the younger Olympic team were charged with tension and fear – not knowing if they could really handle playing in a final against professionals.
Yambol shocked the Egyptians at the beginning with a 21-6 lead. Soon after, the Olympic team lost their fear and started playing as they used to, and the difference in points became smaller with the Bulgarians leading by only 10 points at 31-21, and the difference remained unchanged till the end of first-half at 48-37.
In the second-half, Yambol showed us again [as if we needed to be reminded] how professional they were, especially when they relied on shooting uncountable three-pointers till the end and thus winning the match 92-75.
Bulgaria’s Yambolgas was awarded the basketball Cup by the Minister of Youth and Sport Said Shuqom.
Egypt’s Al-Ahly Take Bronze
In the 3-4 ranking match between Egypt’s Al-Ahly and Jordan’s Jazira, Ahly had a good defense and a fast offense, the exact opposite of Jazira, who had openings in their defense and played very slow offense, giving Ahly the early lead 21-12.
After this, Jazira admitted to their mistakes, closing up their defense and speeding up their offense, to achieve a tie with Ahly and end the first-half at 47-32.
In the second-half, Ahly managed to keep up a noticeable difference of points, with serious resistance from Jazira.
Ahly constantly substituted their players to keep the team fresh and energetic, whereas Jazira had no extra players to do this, and remained exhausted, ending the game 79-65, in favor of Ahly.
Jordan’s Al-Ahli Outdo Orthodox, Take 5th Position
In the ranking match between Jordan’s Al-Ahli and the Orthodox Club, the game wasn’t about which team would get position 5-6, it was more complex than that.
Both teams have been competing with each other in the local league since 1955 and this game was a chance to prove which side were the true champions of Jordan.
The match was very strong and there was a great deal of tension apparent in both sides, but Al-Ahli were more controlling and calm, and therefore led for the entire match, but with a small difference in points, ending the first-half 50-37.
In the second-half, the Orthodox Club, came to their senses, taking control of the ball and started to eat away at the small difference in points, Al-Ahli, however, knew how to keep the match with a final 4-point difference at 83-79.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
