WABA Champions Cup (2007)
2006
2008

WABA Standings
Group A
1. Jalaa 3-1
2. Blue Stars 3-1
3. Arena 2-2
4. Saba 2-2
5. Al Kahraba 0-4
Group B
1. Ittihad 3-1
2. Petrochimi 3-1
3. Al Riyadi 2-2
4. Champville 2-2
5. Al Tilal 0-4


  Saba Battery crowns with gold of WABA of Clubs - Apr. 10, 2007 
Iranian champions Saba Battery hit all the expectations and snatched the title of 10th WABA for clubs (West Asian Championship for Clubs) after their successive win over Al Jalaa Aleppo from Syria 82-79 last night in Al Jalaa basketball court in Aleppo, Syria.

Blue Stars of Lebanon won the 3rd place due to their leading over the other iranian team in the tournament Petrochimi 87-62, While 5th place went to Arena Amman following the defeat against syrian side Al Ittihad Aleppo 76-72, And Champville from Lebanon 7th and Al Ryadi/Aramex 8th.

* Final Game:

Saba Battery (IRI) 82 - Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 79
(Q's: 16-13, 38-33, 58-56 & 82-79)

Al Jalaa's head coach egyption Shareef Azmi began the game with the syrian 214 cm player Wissam Yakoub to close the gap of missmatch with the iranians but that was'nt effective due to Saba's utilization of the high percentage in shooting adding to the good positioning from the deomenican giant Garth Joseph which forced Al Jalaa's coach to give the call to Wayne Houston to enter the court to help Vincent Jones under the baskets in the 2nd quarter, Makan Dioumassi made a nice shot from the center of the court in the he buzzer at the end of the 1st quarter to increase the lead to 38-33.

'Dede' Barbosa, Michel Maadanli and Jones were trying to find a way to score and to help their team to be back to the atmosphere, They succeeded in that but not for a big time to let things back as before and made the iranian's dream come true to win the title for the 1st time in their history.

- Saba Battery's best scorers: Makan Dioumassi (28 pts, 8 reb), Garth Joseph (26 pts, 12 reb).
- Al Jalaa's best scorers: Michel Maadanli (30 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl), Vincent Jones (19 pts, 13 reb), 'Dede' Barbosa (16 pts, 7 ast).

* Third place Game:

Blue Stars (LEB) 86 - Petrochimi (IRI) 64
(Q's: 22-14, 42-35, 73-43 & 86-64)

Blue Stars' best scorer: Damien Cantrell (22 pts, 10 reb).
Petrochimi's best scorers: Ali Najad (13 pts), Aydin Kabir (12 pts).

* Fifth place Game:

Arena Amman (JOR) 76 - Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 72
(Q's: 26-13, 38-33, 56-52 & 76-72)

Arena Amman's best scorers: William Pippen (34 pts), Zeid Abbas (12 pts).
Al Ittihad Aleppo's best scorers: Kevin Jolley (33 pts), Ammar Kassas (10 pts).

# Teams which qualfied to Asian Clubs Championship (Tehran, Iran 12-20 May):
1- Saba Battery - Iran
2- Al Jalaa Aleppo - Syria
3- Blue Stars - Lebanon
4- Arena Amman - Jordan

- WABA for clubs official awards:

Tournament MVP: Michel Maadanli of Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR)
Best scorers: Fadi El Khatib of Blue Stars (LEB)
Best Point Guard: Makan Dioumassi of Saba Battery (IRI)
Best 3-pointer: Karl Sarkis of Champville (LEB)
Best rebounder: Jamie Lloreda of Petrochimi (IRI)

- Asia-Basket All tournament 1st team:
Makan Dioumassi of Saba Battery (IRI)
Michel Maadanli of Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR)
Fadi El Khatib of Blue Stars (LEB)
Jamie Lloreda of Petrochimi (IRI)
Garth Joseph of Saba Battery (IRI)

- Asia-Basket All tournament 2nd team:
'Dede' Barbosa of Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR)
Aidin Nikhah Bahrami of Saba Battery (IRI)
William Pippen of Arena Amman (JOR)
Lamine Diawara of Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR)
Vincent Jones of Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR)

- Asia-Basket All imports team:
Makan Dioumassi of Saba Battery (IRI)
Devon Ford of Champville (LEB)
William Pippen of Arena Amman (JOR)
Jamie Lloreda of Petrochimi (IRI)
Vincent Jones of Saba Battery (IRI)

- Asia-Basket All locals team:
'Dede' Barbosa of Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR)
Michel Maadanli of Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR)
Fadi El Khatib of Blue Stars (LEB)
Behzad Afradi of Saba Battery (IRI)
Zeid Abbas of Arena Amman (JOR)


  Al Jalaa and Saba Battery in the Final of WABA for Clubs - Apr. 9, 2007 
Al Jalaa Aleppo the hosts of West Asian Championship for club qualified to the final of tournament after beating Petrochimi from Iran 70-58 last night, The other oponent in the final will be the other Iranian team Saba Battery who stopped the Lebanese team Blue Stars 68-63.

Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 70 - Petrochimi (IRI) 58
(Q's: 23-9, 39-29, 55-41 & 70-58)

A very nice performance from all the players of Al Jalaa from from beginning of the game was the success which led them to the win over iranians Petrochimi who found themselves facing a solid defense and big concentration.

Michel Maadanli, 'Dede' Barbosa with americans Vincent Jones and Wayne Houston were as usual the best from the syrians carrying their team to the final, While Panamian Jamie Lloreda were suffering from Jones' blocks under the basket but he made a good help with some assists to his team mates Aydin Kabeer and Ali Najad.

- Al Jalaa's best scorers: Michel Maadanli (22 pts), Vincent Jones (13 pts, 13 reb, 8 blk), Wayne Houston (20 pts, 13 reb).
- Petrochimi's best scorers: Jamie Lloreda (11 pts, 20 reb, 5 ast), Aydin Kabeer (16 pts), Ali Najad (9 pts).

Saba Battery (IRI) 68 - Blue Stars (LEB) 63
(Q's: 19-13, 32-21, 45-46 & 68-63)

Saba Battery finally got the revenge in the right time yesterday from Blue Stars who won in the 1st round 68-61.

Iranians proved to all that they will be back to their same performance last season and even better, Their imports are becoming better from game to game esspecially french point guard Makan Dioumassi who showed his leadership in the court and that helped the players in his team do better like Aidin Behrami and domenican Garth Joseph, In the other side, Imports of Blue Stars failed to improve in the most important game for the team, But Fadi El Khatib and Jaen Abdel-Nour did well to keep the range close to Saba but they did'nt find the help needed to loose the game.

- Saba Battery's best scorers: Makan Dioumassi (25 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast), Garth Joseph (15 pts, 15 reb).
- Blue Stars' best scorers: Fadi El Khatib (24 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast), Jean Abdel-Nour (13 pts, 10 reb).

* 5th to 8th places games:

Arena Amman (JOR) 80 - Champville (LEB) 74
(Q's: 17-25, 38-44, 59-52 & 80-74)

Arena Amman qualfied officially to Asian Clubs Championship which will be held in Iran from 12th until 20th of May as the 4th team from West Asia (4 teams from 4 different counrties qualifies to the tournament) after beating Champville of Lebanon 80-74 and the withdrowal of the other jordanian team Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman from their game agianst Ittihad Aleppo of Syria.

- Arena Amman's best scorers: William Pippen (22 pts, 8 reb), Islam Abbas (16 pts, 7 reb), Zeid Abbas (12 pts, 12 reb).
- Champville's best scorers: Devon Ford (31 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl), Corey Louis (13 pts, 13 reb, 6 ast).

Arena now will meet Ittihad Aleppo in the 5th place game.

Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR)

Al Riyadi/Aramex withdrew from their game yesterday against Al Ittihad Aelppo and lost by law 20-0.

Al Riyadi were insisting that Ittihad must change their jerseys to white one as what they dealed on before, Ittihad were wearing the red jerseys while Al Riyadi were with black jerseys and there is a big difference in colors between both, Despite the jordanians kept insisting about it to withdraw and loose the game.

Champville of Lebanon will meet Al Riyadi/Aramex for 7th place game.

# Monday 9/4 (Syria Time +3 GMT)
- Final Game:
21:30 Al Jalaa Aleppo - Saba Battery
- Third place game:
19:00 Blue Stars - Petrochimi
- Fifth place game:
16:15 Arena Amman - Al Ittihad Aleppo
- Seventh place game:
14:00 Champville - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman


  Quarter Finals of WABA  - Apr. 8, 2007 
Iranians Saba Battery and Petrochimi will face respectiveley Bue Stars of Lebanon and hosts Al Jalaa Aleppo is Semi-Finals of West Asian Championship for club which ends tomorrow.

Here are the results of yesterday's games in Quarter Finals of the tournament...

Petrochimi (IRI) 83 - Arena Amman (JOR) 81 (Q's: 15-19, 39-38, 64-68, 75-75 & OT: 83-81)

- Petrochimi's best scorers: Jamie Lloreda (28 pts, 6 ast, 14 reb), Ali Najad (17 pts), Said Tabeshnia (17 pts).
- Arena Amman's best scorers: Islam Abbas (24 pts, 9 reb), Zeid Abbas (12 pts, 11 reb), William Pippen (16 pts).

Blue Stars (LEB) 102 - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 62 (Q's: 22-17, 46-30, 77-34 & 102-62)

- Blue Stars' best scorers: Fadi El Khatib (22 pts, 8 reb, 5 ast), Danny Johnson (19 pts), Damien Cantrell (24 pts, 7 reb).
- Al Riyadi/Aramex's best scorers: Hussam Lutfi (20 pts, 13 reb), Issa Kamel (18 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast), Wesam Sous (17 pts).

Saba Battery (IRI) 85 - Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 72 (Q's: 19-13, 43-32, 66-46 & 85-72)

- Saba Battery's best scorers: Garth Joseph (23 pts, 19 reb), Aidin Bahrami (19 pts, 7 reb), Hamed Afagh (18 pts),
- Ittihad's best scorers: Salah Shawa (18 pts, 8 reb), Kevin Jolley (17 pts), Ammar Kassas (14 pts).

Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 87 - Champville (LEB) 63 (Q's: 24-17, 49-27, 71-47 & 87-63)

- Al Jalaa's best scorers: Vincent Jones (17 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast), Michel Maadanli (18 pts), Eduardo Caviglia (17 pts).
- Champville's best scorer: Samer Mishref (15 pts).

# 5th to 8th place standings games shedule:
- Sunday 8/4 (Syria Time +3 GMT):
14:00 Champville - Arena Amman
16:15 Ittihad Aleppo - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman

# Semi Finals games schedule:
- Sunday 8/4 (Syria Time +3 GMT):
19:00 Blue Stars - Saba Battery
21:30 Petrochimi - Al Jalaa Aleppo


  Day 5 of WABA for Clubs  - Apr. 6, 2007 
Syrian club Al Ittihad Aleppo and Petrochimi of Iran's game settled the standing of Group B in the last day of 1st round of West Asian Championship for clubs which resumes until the 9th of April in Aleppo city in the north of Syria.

The other team Al Jalaa Aleppo of Syria secured the 1st place in Group A depite their harsh loss from the 2nd iranian team in the tournament Saba Battery who was placed in 4th place at the end of the day behind Blue Stars of Lebanon and Jordanians Arena Amman.

With Al Ittihad Aleppo's win yesterday, They became 1st of the group leaving the 2nd place to Petrochimi, 3rd to Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman of Jordan and Lebanese Champville 4th.

Here are yesterday's games details.....

* Group A:

Arena Amman (JOR) 87 - Al Kahraba (IRQ) 80
(Q's: 19-23, 46-43, 69-60 & 87-80)

Al Kahraba club from Iraq will be out of the tournament now after loosing for the 4th consecutive time, Arena Amman who found himself at last in the Quarter Finals won 87-80.

Iraqis were doing good game in the beginning after leading in the 1st quarter and part of the 2nd depending on Americans Josh Cooperwood and Marcus White with iraqi Watheq Shamkhi, While Arena's players were so confident on the win and that reflected on the team positiveley, The huge effort from Zeid Abbas, William Pippen and Sean Knitter gave them the win at last esspecially from the beginning of the 3rd quarter.

- Arena Amman's best scorers: Zeid Abbas (23 pts, 13 reb), William Pippen (23 pts, 12 reb), Sean Knitter (15 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast).
- Al Kahraba's best scorer: Josh Copperwood (29 pts).

Saba Battery (IRI) 74 - Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 53
(Q's: 18-10, 33-29, 59-45 & 74-53)

Iranian team Saba Battery came back to their real performance which they were showing last season by beating the hosts Al Jalaa Aleppo strongley by 20 points 73-53, Al Jalaa Aleppo stayed on top of group due to the direct game result between them and Lebanese Blue Stars.

Al Jalaa's american import Vincent Jones was sent off from the game after insulting the referees, The official committee of the tournament will meet today to know the future of the player in the coming game.

- Saba Battery's best scorers: Garth Joseph (20 pts, 16 reb), Hamed Afagh (19 pts).
- Al Jalaa Aleppo best scorer: Michel Maadanli (16 pts).

# Last standings of Group A:
1- Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 3-1
2- Blue Stars (LEB) 3-1
3- Arena Amman (JOR) 2-2
4- Saba Battery (IRI) 2-2
5- Al Kahraba (IRQ) 0-4

* Group B:

Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 85 - Al Tilal (YEM) 67
(Q's: 21-15, 38-27, 58-45 & 85-67)

Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman of Jordan was setteled on 3rd place in the group after the successful win over Yemenis Al Tilal who will find themself out of Quarter Finals in their 1st participation in this tournament.

- Al Riyadi/Aramex's best scorers: Hussam Lutfi (24 pts), Joe Kennerly (20 pts, 14 reb), Wesam Sous (14 pts, 11 ast).
- Al Tilal's best scorers: Samer Abdel Latif (20 pts), Ba Papa Djiby (18 pts), Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop (14 pts).

Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 75 - Petrochimi (IRI) 67
(Q's: 23-21, 37-36, 51-55 & 75-67)

Al Ittihad Aleppo from Syria snatched the 1st place of Group B from Petrochimi of Iran after their win over them 75-67 in the last game of the 1st round.

Lamine Diawara shows his usual impressive performance to lead his team to the win with the help of his ream mates American Kevin Jolley and the point guard Ali Diyar Bakerli, From the other side, Ali Najad and panamian Jamie Lloreda played well but with no help from their colleagues in the team to finish the game loosing by 8.

- Al Ittihad Aleppo's best scorers: Lamine Diawara (23 pts, 13 reb), Kevin Jolley (18 pts), Ali Diyar Bakerli (11 pts, 6 ast, 8 stl).
- Petrochimi's best scorers: Ali Najad (17 pts), Jamie Lloreda (16 pts).

# Last standings of group B:
1- Al Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 3-1
2- Petrochimi (IRI) 3-1
3- Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 2-2
4- Champville (LEB) 2-2
5- Al Tilal (YEM) 0-4

# Quarter Finals games schedule:
- Saturday 7/4 (Syria Time +3 GMT):
14:00 Arena Amman - Petrochimi
16:15 Al Jalaa Aleppo - Champville
19:00 Blue Stars - Al Riyadi/Aramex
21:30 Saba Battery - Al Ittihad Aleppo


  Day 4 of WABA for Clubs - Apr. 4, 2007 
Four games were held yesterday in Al Jalaa Court in Aleppo, Syria in the 4th day of WABA for clubs tournament..

* Group A:

Arena (JOR) 76 - Saba Battery (IRI) 75
(Q's: 17-18, 33-34, 51-53 & 76-75)

- Best scorers in Arena: William Pippen (24 pts), Zeid Abbas (16 pts), Islam Abbas (14 pts).
- Best scorers in Saba Battery: Makan Dioumassi (19 pts), Garth Joseph (18 pts, 12 reb), Aidin Bahrami (17 pts), Behzad Afradi (12 pts, 14 reb).

Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 84 - Blue Stars (LEB) 78
(Q's: 19-25, 39-38, 51-56 & 84-78)

- Best scorers in Al Jalaa: Michel Maadanli (191-G-81) (28 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast), Wayne Houston (20 pts, 7 reb), Vincent Jones (12 pts, 14 reb, 5 blk).
- Best scorers in Blue stars: Fadi El Khatib 31 pts, Damien Cantrell (18 pts, 14 reb), Basem Bal'aa (11 pts).

# Standings of Group A:
1- Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 3-0
2- Blue Stars (LEB) 2-1
3- Arena Amman (JOR) 1-2
4- Saba Battery (IRI) 1-2
5- Al Kahraba (IRQ) 0-3

* Group B:

Champville (LEB) 93 - Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 76
(Q's: 30-28, 50-35, 71-55 & 93-76)

- Best scorers in Champville: Karl Sarkis (26 pts), Devon Ford (20 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, 5 stl).
- Best scorers in Ittihad Aleppo: Lamine Diawara (24 pts, 17 reb), Ammar Kassas (17 pts).

Petrochimi (IRI) 78 - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 47
(Q's: 12-7, 42-16, 58-30 & 78-47)

- Best scorers in Petrochimi: Jamie Lloreda (18 pts, 15 reb), Aidin Kabir (15 pts), Mahdi Zaki Zadah (11 pts).
- Best scorer in Al Riyadi/Aramex: Joe Kennerly (9 pts).

# Standings of Group B:
1- Petrochimi (IRI) 3-0
2- Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 2-1
3- Champville (LEB) 2-2
4- Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 1-2
5- Al Tilal (YEM) 0-3

# Day 5 of WABA games schedule:
- Thursday 5/4 (SYR time +3 GMT) :
14:00 Al Kahraba Electricity - Arena Amman
16:15 Saba Battery - Al Jalaa Aleppo
19:00 Al Tilal - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman
21:30 Petrochimi - Ittihad Aleppo


  Day 3 of WABA for Clubs  - Apr. 4, 2007 
Four games were held yesterday in Al Jalaa Court in Aleppo, Syria in the 3rd day of WABA for clubs tournament..

* Group A:

Saba Battery (IRI) 110 - Al Kahraba (IRQ) 82
(Q's: 36-26, 62-46 & 110-82)

Saba Battery from Iran their 1st game in the tournament yesterday by passing by Al Kahraba of Iraq by 28 points 110-82.

French point guard Makan Dioumassi was better in that game from the previous one against blue stars and gave many easy balls to his team mates esspecially veteran Behzad Afradi and the domenican giant Garth Joseph, While Al Kahraba tried to enter the game atmosphere more than a time with some clear efforts from Americans Marcus White and Josh Cooperwood with local Watheq Shamkhi.

- Best scorers in Saba Battery: Behzad Afradi (28 pts), Garth Joseph (23 pts, 14 reb), Makan Dioumassi (13 pts, 6 reb, 10 ast), Mohammad Rida Jafaari (15 pts), Karam Ahmadian (15 pts).
- Best scorers in Al Kahraba: Marcus White (25 pts, 9 reb), Josh Cooperwood (16 pts, 8 reb), Watheq Shamkhi (16 pts, 7 reb).

Blue Stars (LEB) 90 - Arena Amman (JOR) 71
(Q's: 19-15, 46-25, 67-46 & 90-71)

Blue Stars became the 1st team until now who succeeded to record 3 consecutive wins, The victim this time was Jordanian team Arena Amman who lost 90-71.

Lebanese showed a big team work game in both offense and defense and that was so clear in the 1st 3 quarters and the score gap was 32 points in some parts of it, Fadi El Khatib, Damien Cantrell and Danny Johnson were the best in everything in the opposite of Arena Amman who did'nt show any willing to win despite having big names like brothers Islam and Zeid Abbas with American imports Sean Knitter and William Pippen who was the only good player from the yellow's side with Islam.

- Best scorers in Blue Stars: Fadi El Khatib (33 pts, 7 reb), Damien Cantrell (27 pts, 8 reb), Danny Johnson (13 pts, 5 ast).
- Best scorers in Arena Amman: William Pippen (24 pts), Islam Abbas (23 pts).

# Standings of Group A:
1- Blue Stars (LEB) 3-0
2- Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 2-0
3- Saba Battery (IRI) 1-1
4- Al Kahraba (IRQ) 0-2
5- Arena Amman (JOR) 0-2

* Group B:

Petrochimi (IRI) 79 - Al Tilal (YEM) 49
(Q's: 27-11, 49-19, 61-36 & 79-49)

The 2nd win for Petochimi of Iran was yesterday against Yemeni Al Tilal by 30 70-49.

Ali Doraghi, Panamian Jamie Lloreda and Milad Farhani were superb in their efforts in scoring in Al Tilal's basket although Samer Abdel Latif's trial to stop them defensiveley with some good moves from senegalese players Ba Papa Djiby and Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop in offense in some parts of the game.

- Best scorers in Petrochimi: Ali Doraghi (16 pts, 8 reb), Jamie Lloreda (11 pts, 9 reb), Milad Farhani (10 pts).
- Best scorers in Al Tilal: Samer Abdel Latif (8 pts, 10 reb, 5 ast), Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop (9 pts), Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop (9 pts, 10 reb).

Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 76 - Champville (LEB) 68
(Q's: 20-17, 35-26, 52-37 & 76-68)

Al Riyadi/Aramex of Jordan who came to the tournament with one import only made a suprise win over Champville of Lebanon who has good roster of imports and locals 76-68.

The Jordanian team was leading the score in the whole game after a very good job from locals Issa Kamel, Wesam Sous and Hussam Lutfi, American Joe Kennerly was out of concentration and the coach Sameer Morcos was forced to put him on the bench most of time, In the other hand, Champville players were lost in the game and was shocked by the organized offense and good defense from the opponents, American Devon Ford tried to do something to put his team back on track with some help from his team mates Corey Louis and Karl Sarkis but that was'nt easy to loose the game by 9.

- Best scorers in Al Riyadi/Aramex: Issa Kamel (25 pts, 5 ast, 6 stl), Wesam Sous (18 pts, 7 ast), Hussam Lutfi (17 pts, 9 reb).
- Best scorers in Champville: Devon Ford (26 pts, 9 reb, 6 ast), Karl Sarkis (11 pts, 6 ast), Corey Louis (13 pts, 19 reb).

# Standings of group B:
1- Ittihad Aleppo (SYR) 2-0
2- Petrochimi (IRI) 2-0
3- Champville (LEB) 1-2
4- Al Riyadi/Aramex (JOR) 1-1
5- Al Tilal (YEM) 0-3

# Day 4 of WABA games schedule:
- Wednesday 4/4 (*Syria time +3 GMT):
14:00 Arena Amman - Al Kahraba Electricity
16:15 Ittihad Aleppo - Champville
19:00 Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman - Petrochmi
21:30 Al Jalaa Aleppo - Blue Stars


  Day 2 of WABA for Clubs  - Apr. 2, 2007 
Four games were held today in Al Jalaa Court in Aleppo, Syria in the 1st day of WABA for clubs tournament..

* Group A:

Blue Stars (LEB) 109 - Al Kahraba Electricity (IRQ) 85 (Q'S: 29-22, 60-41, 88-54 & 109-85)
- Best scorers in Blue Stars: Damien Cantrell (24 pts, 16 reb, 4 ast), Basem Bal'aa (21 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast).
- Best scorers in Al Kahraba: Josh Cooperwood (26 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast), Watheq Shamkhi (19 pts, 8 reb), Ahmad Obaid (13 pts).

Al Jalaa Aleppo (SYR) 96 - Arena Amman (JOR) 80 (Q's: 30-12, 56-29, 75-61 & 96-80)
- Best scorers in Al Jalaa Aleppo: Mchel Maadanli (27 pts, 7 reb), 'Dede' Barbosa (20 pts), Eduardo Caviglia (17 pts), Vincent Jones (17 pts).
- Best scorers in Arena Amman: William Pippen (29 pts, 11 reb), Sean Knitter (20 pts), Zeid Abbas (14 pts).

* Group B:

Champville (LEB) 79 - Al Tilal (YEM) 46 (Q's: 25-12, 47-24, 65-36 & 79-46)
- Best scorers in Champville: Karl Sarkis (13 pts), Samer Mishref (13 pts), Corey Louis (10 pts), Joe Mansour (10 pts), Mario Abboud (10 pts), Joe Abi Mrad (8 pts, 9 reb).
- Best scorers in Al Tilal: Samer Abdel Latif (11 pts), Ba Papa Djiby (7 pts, 15 reb), Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop (10 pts).

Ittihads Aleppo (SYR) 87 - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman (JOR) 82 (Q's: 30-22, 43-42, 64-63 & 87-82)
- Best scorers in Ittihad Aleppo: Lamine Diawara (21 pts, 18 reb), Kevin Jolley (21 pts, 8 reb), Salah Shawa (20 pts).
- Best scorers in Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman: Issa Kamel (24 pts, 7 ast), Wesam Sous (18 pts), Joe Kennerly (18 pts), Hussam Lutfi (16 pts).

# Day 3 of WABA games schedule:
- Tuesday 4/4 (*Syria time +3 GMT):
14:00 Saba Battery - Al Kahraba Electricity
16:15 Blue Stars - Arena Amman


  Day 1 of WABA of Clubs  - Apr. 1, 2007 
Four games were held today in Al Jalaa Court in Aleppo, Syria in the 1st day of WABA for clubs tournament..and here are the details....

Blue Stars 68 - Saba Battery 61 (Q's: 13-16, 35-26, 49-37 & 68-61)

In the 1st game within Group A in the tournament, Blue Stars snatched an important win over Iranian champions Saba Battery by 7 points 68-61.

Saba Battery did'nt find themselves yet in the tournament despite doing well in some parts of the game, Makan Dioummasi the french import failed until now to fill the gap which was cleared after the leaving of the team's former import American Andre Pitts who is currently playing in UAE, While Blue Stars' head coach Jordanian-American Maz Trakh knew how to deal with the game by utilizing the ablities of the lebanese tiger Fadi El Khatib (197-F-79, agency: Pro Management Agency) and the american forward Damien Cantrell, Roy Samaha knew how to stop the Domenican giant Garth Joseph under the basket.

- Blue Stars scorers: Fadi El Khatib (32 pts, 19 reb, 5 ast), Damien Cantrell (16 pts, 12 reb), Danny Johnson (8 pts), Ahmad Ozeir (7 pts), Roy Samaha (3 pts).
- Saba Battery's scorers: Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami (202-F-82) (25 pts, 8 reb), Hamed Afagh (14 pts), Garth Joseph (11 pts, 13 reb), Makan Dioumassi (8 pts, 8 ast, 8 reb), Behzad Afradi (3 pts).

Ittihad Aleppo 77 - Al Tilal 59 (23-20, 39-30, 53-52 & 77-59)

Ittihad Aleppo the syrian league's titleholders succeeded to beat Al Tilal from Yemen 77-59 without their 2nd import Kevin Jolley due to a light injury in Group B.

Lamine Diawara (206-C-71) was the big title of the game after his clear effort in leading his team Ittihad in offense and defense with the help of Ameer Al Hasan and Ammar Qassas.

In the other hand, Senegalese Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop and Samer Abdel Latif were the best from the yemeni's side but that was'nt enough to stop the reds offense.

- Ittihad Aleppo's scorers: Lamine Diawara (24 pts, 16 reb), Ameer Al Hasan (13 pts, 7 reb), Ammar Qassas (9 pts, 7 ast), Salah Al Shawa (8 pts), Rami Issa (7 pts).
- Al Tilal's scorers: Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop (21 pts, 8 reb), Samer Abdel Latif (16 pts), Ba Papa Djiby (8 pts, 10 reb), Abdel Fattah Naqi (5 pts).

Petrochimi 85 - Champville 79 (Q's: 21-14, 44-32, 66-58 & 85-79)

Panamian Jaime Lloreda (203-F/C-80, agency: Beo Basket, college: LSU) scored 27 points to lead his Iranian team Petrochimi to win over Champville from Lebanon 85-79 in the 3rd game of Day 1.

Iranians Aidin Kabeer and Saman Veisi were making huge effort with Lloreda to make their 1st succession despite some tries from Lebanese esspecially American Devon Ford (193-G-77, agency: Duran International, college: Idaho) and youngerster Karl Sarkis.

- Petrochimi's scoers: Jaime Lloreda (27 pts), Aidin Kabeer (26 pts), Saman Veisi (10 pts), Ali Najad (9 pts), Mahrad Atashi (6 pts), Ali Doraghi (5 pts), Ali Hondrast (2 pts).
- Champville's scorers: Devon Ford (25 pts), Karl Sarkis (21 pts), Corey Louis (19), Joe Mansour (5 pts), Elie Mechantaf (5 pts), Hani Zakhem (3 pts), Mario Aboud (1 pts).

Al Jalaa Aleppo 106 - Al Kahraba Electricity 88 (Q's: 30-19, 54-40, 82-55 & 106-88)

Al Jalaa Aleppo of Syria registered an easy win over iraqi side Al Kahraba Electricity 106-88 in the last game of the day within Group A.

Syrians Michel Maadanli (191-G-81), Eduardo Caviglia and 'Dede' Barbosa played well esspecially in 2nd and 3rd quarters with some good efforts from american Vincent Jones and Hikmat Haddad, While Josh Cooperwood and Marcus white were doing their job completley but they did'nt find the help needed from their local team mates to finish the game loosing by 18.

 - Best scorer in Al Jalaa Aleppo: Michel Maadanli (22 pts, 6 ast, 6 reb).
- Best scorer in Al Kahraba: Josh Cooperwood (34 pts).

# Day 2 of WABA games schedule:
- Monday 3/4 (*Syria time +3 GMT):
14:00 Al Kahraba Elictricity - Blue Stars
16:15 Arena Amman - Al Jalaa Aleppo
19:00 Al Tilal - Champville
21:30 Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman - Ittihad Aleppo


  WABA for clubs Tournament presentation (1-9 April) - Mar. 31, 2007 
The West Asian Clubs Championship will begin tomorrow in Aleppo, Syria and resumes utill the 9th of april under the participation of 10 teams representing their countries in this tournament.

- The groups were drawn today and they are:

* Group A:
Al Jalaa Aleppo of Syria
Saba Battery of Iran
Blue Stars of Lebanon
Arena Amman of Jordan
Al Kahraba Electricity of Iraq

* Group B:
Ittihad Aleppo of Syria
Al Riyadi/Aramex of Jordan
Petrochimi of Iran
Champville of Lebanon
Al Tilal of Yemen

- The tournament's system:

1- 1st round each team team plays 4 games against its group's teams.
2- In 2nd Round, 5th place team from each group will not continue, The system of 2nd round will be crosses...
1st of A - 4th of B (D)
2nd of A - 3rd of B (E)
3rd of A - 2nd of B (F)
4th of A - 1st of B (G)
3- Semi-Finals:
Winner of D - Winner of F
Winner of E - Winner of G
4- Places from (5th) until (10th) games
5- Final and 3rd place games

# Games schedule (*Syria time +3 GMT & Games will be broadcasted on Dubai Sports and Syria Sattelite Channels):

*1st Round

- Sunday 1/4:
14:00 Saba Battery - Blue Stars
16:15 Ittihad Aleppo - Al Tilal
19:00 Champville - Petrochimi
21:30 Al Jalaa Aleppo - Al Kahraba Electricity

- Monday 3/4:
14:00 Al Kahraba Elictricity - Blue Stars
16:15 Arena Amman - Al Jalaa Aleppo
19:00 Al Tilal - Champville
21:30 Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman - Ittihad Aleppo

- Tuesday 4/4:
14:00 Saba Battery - Al Kahraba Electricity
16:15 Blue Stars - Arena Amman
19:00 Petrochimi - Al Tilal
21:30 Champville - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman

- Wednesday 4/4:
14:00 Arena Amman - Al Kahraba Electricity
16:15 Ittihad Aleppo - Champville
19:00 Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman - Petrochmi
21:30 Al Jalaa Aleppo - Blue Stars

- Thursday 5/4:
14:00 Al Kahraba Electricity - Arena Amman
16:15 Saba Battery - Al Jalaa Aleppo
19:00 Al Tilal - Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman
21:30 Petrochimi - Ittihad Aleppo

- Friday 6/4:
Rest

- Saturday 7/4:
Quarter Finals

- Sunday 8/4:
Semi Finals

- Monday 9/4:
Final & 3rd place games

- Participating Teams' imports:
* Al Jalaa' Aleppo of Syria:
Vincent Jones (210-C-77) - USA
Wayne Houston (205 -C-73) - USA

* Ittihad Aleppo of Syria:
Kevin Jolley (196-F-82) - USA
Lamine Diawara (206-C-71) - Mali

* Blue Stars of Lebanon:
Damien Cantrell (198-F-76) - USA
Danny Johnson (190-G-76) - USA

* Champville of Lebanon:
Devon Ford (196-F-77) - USA
Corey Louis (204-C-77) - USA

* Saba Battery of Iran:
Garth Joseph (216-C-73) - Dominicia
Makan Dioumassi (190-G-72) - France

* Petrochimi of Iran:
Robert Whaley (208-C-82) - USA
Mark Karcher (196-F-78) - USA

* Arena Amman of Jordan:
William Pippen (203-F-80) - USA
Sean Knitter - (203-C-82) USA

* Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman of Jordan:
Joe Kennerly (204-C-84) - USA
Sony Sakakeeni (204-C-88) - Palestine

* Kahraba Electricity of Iraq:
Josh Cooperwood (191-C-80) - USA
Marcus White (203-C-83) - USA

* Al Tilal of Yemen:
Sulaiman Ebrahim Diop (203-F-88) - Senegal
Ba Papa Djiby (205-C-83) - Senegal


  WASL is not responsible of WABA!!! - Mar. 17, 2007 
Asia-Basket received yesterday a declaration from the management of WASL sports management which sponsers all the competions for WABA (West Asian Basketball Association).

# Here is what was written in the statement (Translated to English):

WASL sports management company the exclusive managing and hosting rights for all the tournaments of basketball in West Asia with all copryrights of broadcasting on TV and Radio media states that there are some unauthorized parties are trying to host the WABA tournament for clubs in Aleppo, Syria from 1st until the 9th of April and utilize it materialy and informationally in an unlegal way who are trying to harm to the company's concillators.

And WASL company warns for all who will corporate with these parties marking that there are legal actions will be made soon against them.


 











# WABA's reaction:

After reading what was written above, Mr Hagop Khajarian the secretary general of WABA answered in a weekly tv program in Lebanon (Malafat Riyadiyah on New TV) that WASL did'nt follow what was dealed last season and there must be a qualifying tournament to Asian Clubs Championship with or without WASL company and the tournament in Aleppo will begin on time without problems.


  10 teams in WASL  - Mar. 15, 2007 
The West Asian Basketball Association (WASL) announced that 10 teams will take part in WASL (West Asian superleague) which will be held in Aleppo, Syria from 1st until the 9th of April.

- The teams are:
Blue Stars of Lebanon
Champville of Lebanon
Al Ittihad Aleppo of Syria
Al Jalaa Aleppo of Syria
Arena Amman of Jordan
Al Riyadi/Aramex Amman of Jordan
Saba Battery of Iran
Petrochimi Imam Harbour of Iran
Al Kahraba Electricity of Iraq
Al Tilal of Yemen

Those 10 teams will be divided to two groups in the draw which will be made before the beginning of the tournament.

The most common 2 absents in this copy of WASL are Lebanese league champions Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut (Due to Joe Vogel's issue), and Asian Clubs Championship's titleholders Fastlink of Jordan who refused to let his players sign the contract of commitment with the program of Jordan National Team.