Local services
Host Team Debrecen will clash with Lithuanian, Spanish and Greek opponents in the men’s basketball youth Champions League, the matches of which will take place between the 2nd and the 7th of April in our city.
“On Monday evening, the draw for the Youth Basketball Champions League was held in the ballroom of the Aquaticum Hotel. At the festive event, the group standings for the international tournament to be held in Debrecen between the 2nd and the 7th of April were decided,” debrecenisportcentrum.hu reports.
The event started with a performance by the Forgórózsa Dance Ensemble from Debrecen, followed by a speech by Fiba’s Vice-President Carmen Tocala.
“For the International Basketball Federation, the Youth Champions League is one of the most important projects for the future of basketball. The starting teams will bring up some of the biggest stars of the future who want to achieve their dream of playing professional basketball at the highest level in their clubs. It is not uncommon for 4-5 players from the participating teams to have already played in the adult Champions League, so I expect a very high quality tournament this year as well, “ she summed up the expectations of the head of the International Basketball Federation.
Afterwards, the Deputy Mayor Diána Széles took the stage. She emphasised that basketball is one of the most popular sports in Debrecen and plays a very important role in the city’s sports life.
“There are basketball classes in almost all the local schools, a lot of kids start playing basketball every year, and the academy system is in great hands. The April event is also important for the city so that young people can see their heroes up close and learn their moves from the sidelines, which can be very motivating for them, ” the Deputy Mayor said on the occasion of the event then expressed her gratitude to the organising committee and the Hungarian Basketball Federation, thanks to whom the number of world basketball tournaments in Debrecen has been approaching forty in the past decade.
Finally, the president of MKOSZ (Hungarian Basketball Federation), Márton Báder took the microphone, who also highlighted the routine of the Debrecen organisers.
“There have been many high-quality competitions in the Civis city in recent years, the crowning glory of which were the U17 and U19 world championships of the last three years. MKOSZ has many goals in the field of basketball, but the first is clearly the development of young people, for which it is essential that Hungarian youngsters who are about to turn professional compete in prestigious international tournaments.We are confident that the Hungarian youth will be able to move forward thanks to competitions like this.”
After that, the draw began, in which Hungary’s only NBA player until now, Dávid Kornél, helped out as FIBA ambassador.
The thirteen competitors were divided into four groups from three hats, and even before the draw it was certain that the host Team Debrecen would be in Group A with four members. Although it was almost impossible to get an easy opponent at this level, the Lithuanian Rytas Vilnius, the Spanish Lenovo Tenerife and the Greek Promitheas Patras seem to be very tough rivals.
The other three groups were made up of three teams in each, with Bosnian Igokea, German Nymburk and Greek AEK Athens in Group B, Turkish Tofas Bursa, German Porsche Ludwigsburg and Czech BK Opava in Group C, and the final three were Israeli Hapoel Jerusalem, Turkish Galataseray and Czech Oldenburg.
The youth CL groups:
Group A: Team Debrecen, Rytas Vilnius (Lithuanian), Lenovo Tenerife (Spanish), Promitheasz Patrasz (Greek)
Group B: Igokea m:tel (Bosnian), Basketball Academy Nymburk (Czech), AEK (Greek)
Group C: Tofas Bursa (Turkish), Porsche BBA Ludwigsburg (German), BK Opava (Czech)
Group D: Oldenburg (German), Galatasaray (Turkish), Hapoel Jerusalem (Israeli)
Source:debrecen.hu
