Basketball cup ends Thursday

AMMAN — The season’s first basketball competition ends on Thursday when Applied Science University (ASU) plays Ittihad Schools for the Jordan Cup title.

The knockout competition saw Riyadi lose to Ittihad 78-77 in the semis as Orthodoxi lost 92-65 to ASU.

Riyadi had eliminated Kufr Youba, Ittihad ousted Jalil, Orthodoxi beat Ashrafieh and ASU eliminated Gazzet Hashem.

The tournament is a good warm-up for teams ahead of the Premier Basketball League as teams scramble to finalise their line-ups and sign import players. 

Observers point to a regression that negatively affected the basketball scene in the past few years and hope players and fans will return to the courts and help bring the zeal of competition to Jordan’s second most popular sport.

Last season, ASU won the league title for the second consecutive and fourth time when they beat Ittihad 3-1 in the best-of-five finals. Riyadi won third place after beating Kulieh 2-0 in the best-of-three play-offs.

Riyadi beat then league champs Orthodoxi to win the inaugural Jordan Cup in 2002 following which Zain (formerly Fastlink) won the title for four consecutive seasons. Then Orthodoxi snatched the 2007/08 title before Zain won again in 2008/09, ASU in 2010/11 and Riyadi in 2012.