PHILIPPINES: BASKETBALL: Lebanon lose for second time to Philippine team in warm-up game for world basketball championship

Record ID: 561283

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: BASKETBALL: Lebanon lose for second time to Philippine team in warm-up game for world basketball championship
  • Date: 18th August 2006
  • Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (AUGUST 16, 2006) (REUTERS) LEBANON TEAM ENTERING BASKETBALL COURT WIDE OF BASKETBALL COURT LEBANON PLAYER WARMING-UP (SOUNDBITE) (English) TEAM LEBANON PLAYER BASSEM BALAA, 24 YEAR OLD SAYING: "The war in Lebanon gives us a boost to play in the World Cup and we are not worried because now its ended and nobody hurts." GAME BEGINS GAME IN PROGRESS LEBANON TEAM SCORES SCORE BOARD LEBANON COACHING STAFF PHILIPPINE TEAM SCORES FANS CHEERING VARIOUS OF GAME LEBANON HEAD COACH TALKING TO PLAYERS VARIOUS OF GAME GAME ENDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) TEAM LEBANON PLAYER FADI EL-KHATIB, 27 YEAR OLD SAYING: "It's a friendly game. We come here just to practice for the world championship. We did good and hopefully we can do better in the world championship". REPORTERS EL-KHATIB GREETED BY FANS
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Philippines
  • Country: Philippines
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAF79GZZP2TQI2BWI5HN62MI45
  • Story Text: The Philippine national basketball team beat Lebanon 105-100 in Manila to win their second match in a row on Wednesday (August 16) in warm-up games for the World Basketball Championship starting August 19 in Japan.
    Lebanon qualified for the world championship by finishing second in the Asian championship, while the Philippines failed to qualify for the finals.
    Members of the Lebanese team are playing in the games with renewed hope for the reconstruction of their country after Israeli forces ended 34 days of fighting Hizbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
    "The war in Lebanon gives us a boost to play in the World Cup and we are not worried because now its ended and nobody hurts", Bassem Balaa said in an interview before the game begins.
    The Philippines also beat Lebanon, 94-75, in warm-up games on Sunday, during which the Lebanese team had to fight off tiredness due to lack of sleep after their arrival in Manila late on Friday.
    "It's a friendly game. We come here just to practice for the world championship. We did good and hopefully we can do better in the world championship," Fadi El-Khatib said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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