Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut
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| Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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[[Image:|center|100px|Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut logo]] |
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| Leagues | Lebanese Basketball League | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1934 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| History | 1934 - present | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Arena | Raouché | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Raouché, Beirut, Lebanon | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Team colors | Blue and Yellow | |||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Hisham Jaroudi | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach | Fouad Abou Chakra | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | Lebanese Cup 1949/50, 1950/51, 1951/52, 1952/53, 1953/54, 1955/56, 1956/57, 1957/58, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1967/68, 1970/71, 1972/73, 1992/93, 1994/95, 1996/97, 2004/2005, 2005/2006, and 2006/2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Uniforms | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Riyadi Club, also known as An-Nadi Al Riyadi, is a Lebanese Basketball club that holds the highest titles in the Lebanese and Arab cup. It's also known in other parts of Asian regions, and it's history with rivalries; Iran's Saba Battery and Jordan's Fast Link.
The club's Stadium is currently located in Raouché, Beirut, where both men's and women's tournaments are held every year. An Amateur side also exists where participents can sign up for classes and train in favor of becoming professional basketball players. It also holds Chess, Martial arts, Dancing, and other tournaments.
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[edit] History
The club was founded in 1934 by Hussein Sejaan, Hassan Ladki, Fouad Zantout, Youssef Shaker, Mustafa Shaker, Zouheir Yatim, Helmi Chehab, and Wafic Nsouli at that time. In 1945, the Ministry of the Interior gave permission to "Riyadi Club in Beirut" to get involve in various sports in its location in Raouché. Some of these sports were Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, Tennis, and Ping Pong.
In 1947, Al Riyadi club moved from Raouché to Sanayeh near. President Bechara El Khoury, Prime Minister Riad El-Solh and Saeb Salam attended the opening ceremony. These men were also at Al Riyadi's first basketball game against Galata Saraye from Turkey. The club finally returned to its current location in Raouché facing the "Military club in 1954.
In 1965, Riyadi launched its first women team to compete with few other clubs that had women teams at that time such as Homentmen and Antranik.
The dream of an enclosed court ,Saeb Salam Arena, was accomplished in 1991 during the term of Club President Hisham Jaroudi and with an assist of President Tammam Salam and a number of sports and Al-Riyadi supporters from across Lebanon.
[edit] Achievements
Al Riyadi Club is the only team in Lebanon to win the Lebanese Basketball Championship 19 times and to avoid any loss for nearly two years. In 1998, Riyadi won the West Asian Basketball Championship that took place in Jordan; which kept a seat for it in the Asian Basketball Championship that took place in Malaysia in the same year. The club was able to win a Bronze Medal through an organized performance by the players. Riyadi's Michael Cumberland was nominated Best Player in Asia, while the team’s Captain Walid Dumyati captured the Best Point Guard title in Asia. It has also won Housameddine Hariri International Tournament nine times. Such accomplishments made more foreign players to join the club by the passage of time.
Al Riyadi has also clinched Damascus International Tournament cup in 2004 after overcoming other Arab teams in the region. Riyadi was crowned Champion of Dubai International Tournament the 16th which was held during the month of January, 2005. The players scored 6 wins out of 6 tough games, and achieved most of the tournament's prizes. A year later in 2006, Riyadi preserved the title by scoring 45 point win over Fast Link of Jordan in the semi-final (115-70) and 20 points win over the Egyptian Al Jazeera (83-63) in the final. Ismail Ahmad was named MVP of the tournament; Tony Madison was the best scorer and the best 3 point shooter, and Fouad Abou Chakra claimed the title of best coach.
On May 1, 2005, the club was crowned Champions of Lebanon for the 2004-2005 season after 8 years of waiting. The team broke a record by winning 25 times in 25 games, to become the first team in the recent Lebanese Basketball History to win the championship without any loss. In the finals, Al Riyadi defeated Sagesse Beirut in Manara by 40 points (112-72), and ended the series by (3-0). After that, Al-Riyadi headed to Dubai, and participated in Hamdan Ben Rashed Tournament which was held during the month of May 2005. The club was crowned Champion of The Tournament after overcoming Saba from Iran (99-83). In November 2006, right before the 2006-2007 Lebanese League kicked off, the FLBB requested from Al-Riyadi to participate in King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein’s Tournament in Jordan instead of the Lebanese National Team who at the time was not ready for such an intense competition. The FLBB thought that Riyadi players will preserve Lebanon’s image and raise its name high among countries participating in the tournament including Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Kosovo, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt. The players brought the cup back to Lebanon after beating the Egyptian National Basketball Team in the finals (70-68).
In 2007, Al Riyadi continued its success by preserving the cups of both the Lebanese Championship and the Lebanese Cup in a flawless season. The club did not incure any loss and was able to beat Blue Stars twice in each of the finals of the two tournaments. Right before the kick off of the 2007-2008 season, Riyadi claimedthe 17th Housameddine Hariri tournament in Saida by beating Al Ahli Egypt (85-80).
In 2008, Iran's Saba Battery, the champions of 2006-2007 season's FIBA ASIA, found their way to the final stage of West Asian Basketball Association competitions, underway in the Iranian southern port city of Mahshahr, to play against their rival, Lebanon's Al Riyadhi. The Iranian club by one point difference which opened the door for Al Riyadi to continue it's undefeated streak.
[edit] El Khatib joins Al Riyadi
See: Fadi El Khatib
After his release in January 2008 by the Ukranian Basketball League, Fadi El Khatib headed towards Lebanon to sign with Blue Stars. However, Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut canceled his contract with the last and signed him up for the 2007-2008 Basketball season. El Khatib participated in many Arab tournaments, but has not appeared in the Lebanese Basketball League yet.
[edit] Al Riyadi's Women Section
The Riyadi's Basketball team for women was formed by the year 1965, and competed against few Lebanese women's teams. Unlike the men's club, the women were not able to capture some titles back then. However, Riyadi ladies team qualified for the first time in the club history to the final of the Lebanese league 2006 -2007 after their third consecutive win over Homentmen in the final four. Riyadi was crowned Lebanese cup 2006 champion after defeating Antranik by 5 points with a final score of 61 to 56.
Riyadi's Emma Eskedjian dominated the glass grabbing 14 rebounds and managed to score 18 points; while Nour Chkeir lead the team in scoring with 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Talar Marcusian nailed 4 3 pointers and the team's American Jessica Butler grabbed 10 rebounds. As for Antranik, Nisrine Dandan was the best scorer of the game with 20 points while the team's import Shandra Brown scored 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
