Latest news with #NextGenFinals
Al Etihad
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
NextGen: Dubai's Falcons hold promise as basketball talent
28 May 2025 00:46 KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)The NextGen Finals for Under-18 basketball players on the sidelines of the EuroLeague's Final Four in Abu Dhabi proved to be a vital stepping stone for some of the sport's future superstars in the week gone by. And the host country's representatives Dubai Basketball Falcons impressed despite many challenges.'We got only 10 days to come together to prepare, so considering the challenges, I am proud of the team,' coach Slaven Rimac tells Aletihad after the side finished their third and final Group A engagement at the Mubadala Arena. The world's top eight clubs were pitted in two groups and only the group toppers made it to the final. The hastily arranged team of Dubai Basketball had a tough pairing with one of the oldest clubs, Barcelona, to open the tournament on a losing note. But they acquitted themselves with a comeback win against Mega Super Belgrade and even rallied in the third quarter and led against eventual finalist Emporio Armani Milan in the final game. But the Italian club's more experienced players dug deep and managed to find the win 86-84, such was the fine is a saying that in order to be the best, you have to beat the best. But in order for that to happen, you first have to see and face the best. Judging by the display of the younger Falcons and the fact that Milan lost to eventual winner Zalgiris Kaunas 89-81, the future seems only bright from here.'We have young players like Gustavs [Vilcans] or [Diop] Amath, who are born in 2010, then Bacary [Doucoure] is also 2010, and meanwhile all of the squad of EA Milan is like 2007 and they have been playing together for about two years now,' Rimac pointed team finished strongly especially considering a 46-point margin loss to Barcelona. 'Unfortunately, we played against a very good team of Barcelona. They punished us and we were not under any illusions. But yes, it was important how we react to that and the boys concentrated on the second and third games.'We showed that we have quality, that the kids know how to play right... I guess the kids were not used to that stage, especially in offence where they couldn't react as well as after. But we showed we had a united team; everybody respects each other and I think we showed a really good face of Dubai basketball team.'I was indeed worried about the players' mental and psychological side after that Barcelona loss because we knew we had a certain quality but as you know, we didn't have time to practice as much. Yet, the team reacted very well with that response against Mega. And remember, it is the first time we are playing in Abu Dhabi, too,' Rimac other group also was strongly contested with the Lithuanian side of Kaunas prevailing over teams from Real Madrid, Paris and United States. Dubai Basketball competed as wild card entrants and managed to carve their own impressions, as hoped by Rimac colleague and the general manager of the club's youth programme, Petros Krasopoulos. 'For the kids coming through our academy and other young players across the UAE, seeing a team from Dubai competing in the NextGen EuroLeague has been a massive source of inspiration,' said Krasopoulos, the Greek native who has been with the club since 2015. 'It makes professional basketball an achievable feat – highlighting that there's a clear pathway from playing the game here locally to stepping onto the court against some of the biggest youth teams in Europe.'
Al Etihad
21-05-2025
- Business
- Al Etihad
EuroLeague Basketball Final Four ready for slam dunk bonanza in Abu Dhabi
22 May 2025 01:30 KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)Abu Dhabi has played host to some of the best moments in regional basketball, and you can expect more of that when the Final Four in the knockout stage for the EuroLeague, being held this weekend at the Etihad top clubs in Europe's elite basketball league are in the capital. Such is the hype that tickets sold out within seven hours of going on sale in February, according to the league and co-organisers with the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) – Abu agency International Management Group (IMG) had brokered the deal for the Final Four to be staged outside of Europe for the first year's semi-final lineup will see Panathinaikos, the most successful club in the tournament's history with seven titles, take on Fenerbahce Beko on Friday at second semi-final at 10pm sees rookie side Monaco face the club with the most experience at this stage – Olympiacos, with 13 appearances and three titles. 'My phone has been ringing left, right and centre with calls from people wanting to get in,' said Saood Al Hosani, Undersecretary at DCT Abu Dhabi, about his life since the official announcement in January, a month after Aletihad had broken the story. 'In the overall tourism strategy, sports and entertainment play a significant role and a major share when it comes to events. We are glad to have this partnership with EuroLeague Basketball, and it is important that we continue to capitalise on the investments we have made on the game itself because we see it as not only a tourism play, but also to continue this integration with community and sports development here in the city and the country," he year's tournament features a development component, with the staging of the youth equivalent – the NextGen Finals – where eight boys' teams will slug it out on May 22-25 for the Under-18 future LeBron James or Luka Doncic could emerge of the eight sides, one of which will be the host team, Dubai senior team of the Dubai outfit, meanwhile, is having a stellar debut in the Adriatic league (ABA), beating Cedevita Olimpija Slovenia 85-76 on Tuesday night to reach the Dhabi has also hosted pre-season games for two teams from America's NBA, in addition to a Jr. NBA Abu Dhabi League for school children. Speaking exclusively with Aletihad along with Al Hosani was the Chief Executive Officer of the EuroLeague, Paulius Motiejunas, who has been focused on uniting the shareholders behind plans for future growth in key markets beyond Europe, while enhancing the game experience at arenas, on television and on digital platforms. Established in 1958, the league has gone through various iterations under different organising bodies and formats. This weekend's Final Four will be the 25th year of the format under EuroLeague Basketball.'It is our 25th anniversary, so we have lined up a lot of activities. A long list of celebrity players and former stars will also be seen off the court,' said on the deal for Abu Dhabi to host the Final Four for three years, according to basketball media reports, Motiejunas said, 'We are really happy to open up a new market, which we have never visited in the Middle East, especially.'We believe we are the best basketball league in the world... our slogan 'Every Game Matters' follows us everywhere, so we wanted to unlock and bring this passion here in Abu Dhabi. We have one year and we will sit down to talk right after this event and hopefully come back.'We need to not forget that we have European clubs and European fans. For sure, Abu Dhabi is the best place for people to travel and to experience a wonderful city with all the attractions. But we also cannot forget our roots. So it would be hopefully nearby, not every year in a row for three years, but every other year we could be back here in Abu Dhabi.'When the EuroLeague returns, Al Hosani predicts the sport will have seen significant more development.'Today, because of deals like the NBA and EuroLeague, the players participating in the games [in the UAE] have increased by 60%. This is always part of our priority and we're evolving with our partnerships all over to make sure to have the right impact on the community,' he said. 'The fans have increased by 25% since we collaborated with the NBA. And hopefully we will see more of that happening by adding to the community here. We are really happy with the overwhelming exposure that we're getting with the final this weekend. I mean, this is the best time. I feel everyone really want to be a part of it.' Source: Aletihad - Abu Dhabi
Al Etihad
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
EuroLeague Basketball: NextGen Finals to dovetail with Final Four in Abu Dhabi in May
9 Apr 2025 01:09 Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)The future Luka Doncic or even the next Lebron James may be on display in Abu Dhabi next month when the EuroLeague Basketball's season climax is held on May 23-25, followed by the NextGen Finals. It was announced in January that the Final Four will be hosted in the emirate - the first time the top-tier tournament for club pros in Europe decided to hold it outside of the continent after a deal was struck between the organisers and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi through the agency IMG. In addition to the main event, the NextGen Finals - the world's premier club-based junior basketball event, which will bring the world's top Under-18 talents together with the biggest names in basketball - will also be staged. Tickets to the Final Four event were sold out inside the first seven hours when they went on sale on February 26. While the Final Four will be held at the Eithad Arena on Yas Island, the next generation of stars will showcase their skills at the Mubadala Arena at Zayed Sports City. Last year, Dubai hosted the Qualifier to the NextGen Finals, in which the Dubai Falcons gave an indication of how the sport has developed in the UAE. That initiative last year led to the formation of Dubai Basketball, which has already made waves in the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA) League as the debutants managed to secure a play-off berth with five games to spare and are currently third in the 16-team NextGen Finals will feature eight elite teams. Joining Dubai Basketball will be EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Barcelona (Winner of NextGen Ulm), Mega SuperBet Belgrade (Winner of NextGen Istanbul), Overtime Elite, Pole France INSEP Paris (Winner of NextGen Belgrade), Real Madrid and Zalgiris this marks the second consecutive year an Overtime Elite representative will compete in the NextGen Finals. Overtime Elite, an elite U16 to U20 league, features many of the top young talents from the United States and beyond. The league, consisting of eight teams, recently completed its fourth Basketball, a newly established project founded in 2024, has rapidly made its mark by securing participation in the ABA League. Their U18 team Falcons will represent the Middle East again in a successive appearance, following their role as hosts in the qualifiers last season. There will be two groups with Juria Golemac's boys in Dubai, matched with Armani Milan, Barcelona and Belgrade.A combined total of nine U18 continental trophies have been won by the clubs participating in the NextGen Finals. Real Madrid enters as the reigning champions, having edged out INSEP by a single point (85-84) in last year's final in Berlin. Real Madrid claimed the title in 2023, 2021, 2019 and 2015, while INSEP were crowned champions in 2010 and 2017. Barcelona claimed the European championship in 2016, and Mega won its first title in attending the NextGen Finals in Abu Dhabi or watching via the EuroLeague's official YouTube channel will enjoy 12 group-stage games over the first three days (May 22 to May 24). The tournament will conclude on Sunday, May 25, with the championship game between the two group winners. Tickets for the NextGen Finals will be available for purchase in the coming weeks. This season marks the 23rd edition of the NextGen. Some of the biggest names in basketball have passed through the competition, such as Doncic, Victor Wembanyama, Kristaps Porzingis, Milos Teodosic, Vasilije Micic, Nikola Mirotic, Dario Saric among others.
The Independent
31-03-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Novak Djokovic's Miami Open defeat unlocks a new truth about future of men's tennis
'First of many,' Jakub Mensik wrote on the camera lens after his victory at the Miami Open. The Czech had never won a tournament at ATP level before this week. Now he is a Masters 1000 champion. On the other side of the net on a swelteringly humid night in Miami was a man he had idolised since his childhood, who had inspired him to take up tennis, who won his first title on the tour when Mensik was only ten months old. As the 19-year-old collapsed on court, overwhelmed with emotion, it was hard not to think that the story had come full circle: the student had outgrown the master. A tiring, ailing Novak Djokovic was overpowered in two tight tie-breaks, visibly struggling in the suffocating Florida heat and the worse off after a five-and-a-half hour rain delay. More than that, though, Djokovic was – and is – in a losing battle against the one opponent he has always been able to put off: time. Djokovic had not played in Miami since 2019. Like Serena Williams before him, the Serb contests a pared-down calendar, eliminating those smaller tournaments he does not feel are worthwhile as he aims to peak for the right moments. He had made the decision to come here – as he decides ahead of every tournament – because he felt it was worth it; felt he could win. Enter Mensik. Part of a fleet of young talent breaking through in the men's ranks, the 54th-ranked Czech was part of December's NextGen Finals, a slightly gimmicky eight-player tournament that nonetheless has some significance because of its habit of producing stars of the future. Recent winners include Stefanos Tsitsipas (2018), Jannik Sinner (2019), and Carlos Alcaraz (2021). Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, Denis Shapovalov, Taylor Fritz, and Holger Rune are among a litany of other major names to take part. Mensik had a forgettable tournament in Jeddah, losing all of his round-robin matches, and much of the attention since then has been on other alumni, mostly 18-year-old champion Joao Fonseca. The Czech broke through at roughly the same time as Fonseca – he reached the Qatar Open final last year in the same week as the Brazilian's memorable run to the quarter-finals in Rio – but has not been accompanied by the same barrage of hype. That's unlikely to remain the case now that he has the advantage of a Masters title over Fonseca. But it has meant that he has been afforded the luxury of steadily making his way up the rankings, honing his game, killing giants and so on, without scrutiny on his every move. In Miami his huge serve, booming groundstrokes, and incredible movement and court coverage for a man of 6'4' were all on show, with the teenager bombing down aces and lasering his powerful backhand to immense effect. His improving game saw him topple top-ten players Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz on his way to the final. Then he needed not just his game to hold up, but his mind. The man on the other side of the net had other problems. One of Djokovic's several superpowers – an ability to coast through the early rounds of a tournament, then switch on his brilliant best when the going gets tougher – seems to be deserting him. But most significantly, the psychological hold he has over the rest of the tour has gone. Mensik, with his well-documented admiration of Djokovic growing up, was a prime candidate to be star-struck when play finally got underway on Sunday. The inevitable jitters were no doubt compounded by the lengthy wait to come on court. Instead he thrived, holding his nerve in two tight sets to comprehensively win in the most nerve-jangling format of all, the tiebreak. As he fell to the ground after his victory, another leaf turned over in the story of the sport. The likes of Mensik, Fonseca, Americans Learner Tien and Alex Michelsen, and more, have announced their arrival. Each has a very different personality and game style, but each has an unashamed self-belief missing from some of the sport's forgotten generation, the likes of Tsitsipas, Ruud and Rublev, and different even from the quiet confidence of Sinner or the exhibition-style virtuosity of Alcaraz. There has been a shift in attitude, from deference towards one of the sport's greats, to an utter confidence in their place at the top table. Djokovic remains a formidable athlete and a tough draw in any tournament. But he is beatable, and they all know it. That elusive 100th ATP title, one of the few records he has left to chase, still eludes him. It now feels further out of reach. The tide is turning. Mensik's triumph in Miami will not be the last instance of a young, dazzling talent beating the sport's colossus. As he wrote on the camera lens, it's the first of many.
