Nubar of Cairo beat arch-rivals Ararat to win the second cup -- held to mark the 1973 War -- of five tournaments of the Pan-Armenian Egyptian basketball tournaments, Nora Koloyan-Keuhnelian reports Ever since the early seventies, one of the many activities the Armenian community in Egypt continues to enjoy is organising the annual Pan-Armenian Egyptian basketball tournaments that start in July and end in November-December. Five Armenian sporting clubs from Cairo and Alexandria take part in these tournaments, each organising its event by turn, which last three days, usually during the weekends. One of these five tournaments is organised by HMEM Nubar Cairo sporting club in October and which coincides with the anniversary of the 6 October war. This weekend was one of those weekends when the community celebrated the 39th anniversary of the October victory. In the three-day sports festival, four official matches were held among the basketball senior men's teams of HMEM Nubar Cairo, HMEM Nubar Alex, Homenetmen Ararat Cairo, Homenetmen Gamk Alex and St Therese Cairo. The matches witnessed tough competition amidst a high spectator turn-out who supported their teams enthusiastically, and why not, since basketball is the most popular sport in the Armenian community. The teams themselves displayed their best performances, entertaining the spectators with a high-level of competition and thrilling matches that caught one's breath and had fans on their feet. The final took place on Sunday featuring Ararat against Nubar Cairo. En route to the final, Ararat beat Nubar Alex 67-44 on Saturday, while Nubar Cairo secured its final berth after defeating Gamk Alex 90-27 on Friday, the very first day of the tournament. Nubar Cairo is trained by famous coach Amr Ashour who has been with the team since 1995. Both Ararat and Nubar Cairo represent the strongest of the five and usually aim for the championship title of each tournament. Sunday's final was the toughest for Ararat. Nubar Cairo beat them 70-48 (24-9, 46-20, 60-33) and took the season's second cup in a row. The first was during September when Homenetmen Gamk Alex organised its tournament and also celebrated its centennial in Egypt. The finals cup was donated by Mr and Mrs Vahe Varjabedian. The tournament was headed by Onnig Belekdanian and his wife. Mr Belekdanian is president of the Executive Committee of Cairo's Armenian Community Council. The event was held under the auspices of Bishop Ashot Mnatsakanian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Egypt. During the three-day tournament, friendly matches were also played alongside the main event to liven up the general atmosphere of the competitions. Matches included the host club's junior and senior girls teams and other Egyptian clubs. On Saturday October 6, Nasr City senior girls beat HMEM Nubar 52-47, while Nubar's junior girls took the cup on Sunday after beating Heliolido 26-17. In 2011 a united under-14 boys basketball team (Ararat-Nubar) was formed and since then the team takes part in the official Egyptian league. In the October tournament, United defeated Petrosport club 49-13. Before the final started on Sunday, president of the newly elected board Jirayr Depoyan and club member George Simonian saluted the spectators and hailed Egypt's 1973 victory over the Israelis to regain Sinai, and remembered Egyptian soldiers who gave their lives "during this honourable battle." HMEM Nubar club's present premises in Heliopolis was founded in 1958. The land was bought by AGBU (Armenian General Benevolent Union) Cairo from Boghos Nubar Pasha's (1851-1930) inheritors in 1956, the son of Egyptian first prime minister Nubar Pasha Nubarian and the founder of the AGBU and its first president. Most Egyptian Armenians today are permanent residents of Egypt, were born in Egypt and are Egyptian citizens. Nowadays, the community's number does not exceed 5,000. All five Egyptian Armenian basketball teams are trained by professional Egyptian coaches. "In spring of every year, our team starts training three times a week preparing for the tournaments that start in summer, while in winter training sessions are reduced to once a week because of exams," says Ahmed Al-Saharti, Homenetmen Ararat's coach and one of Egypt's most famous basketball coaches. Al-Saharti said the Egyptian-Armenian tournaments are as exciting as the Egyptian basketball league and that matches between the top Armenian teams are almost as strong as those of Egyptian basketball clubs Ahli, Zamalek, Gezira and Ittihad of Alexandria. That was clear during this tournament which is growing in popularity and with the high spectator turn-out it enjoys. Al-Saharti has been in charge of the team since 2010, and was also its head from 2004 to 2008. And since the tournament's organisers are always keen on bringing out a successful event, referees from the Egyptian league were called to officiate the Pan-Armenian tournaments. While HMEM Nubar Cairo organises the October tournament, dedicated to the war victory -- it's been 39 years now -- the HMEM Nubar Alex tournament, held in July, is dedicated to Egypt's 23 July Revolution. The 2012 Pan Armenian-Egyptian basketball season is not over yet. The community still expects to stage a couple of basketball tournaments by Homenetmen Ararat Cairo and St Therese clubs during the next few months. Until then, fans of both top teams will keep asking the same question: who will win the cup?
