-KATHMANDU
Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four 2018 kicks off in Serbia’s capital Belgrade this weekend. Taking place from May 18th to 20th, Europe’s most prominent and highest-level basketball championship sees four of Europe’s best teams battle it out for the coveted title. This year’s finalists are CSKA Moscow, Real Madrid, Fenerbahçe Doğuş Istanbul and Žalgiris Kaunas.
Adding to the excitement taking over the city, Turkish Airlines set up a model airplane in Belgrade’s central Republic Square. Visitors are encouraged to enter a competition to guess the number of basketball balls fitted into the plane for a chance to win various Turkish Airlines sponsored prizes. Turkish Airlines’ followers also have chance to attend the same competition by using the #GuessForFlight hashtag on Twitter with an advertisement fiction. During three days, from May 18th to 20th, Fanzone will be at Kalemegan Fortress. Basketball fans and visitors will have chance to play some games in Turkish Airlines stand. As a social media activity again, there will be the Trickshot competition as similar to last year, which is called “Tick Tock Toe Challenge” featuring “How Ridiculous” and “Euroleague Legends”. Against to How Ridiculous Team, the players will be Theodoros Papaloukas, Matjaz Smodis and Duşko Savanovic. They will shoot from one of the symbol of Belgrade, Avala Tower.
Voicing the passion of Turkish Airlines and basketball fans alike, M. İlker Aycı, Turkish Airlines’ Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, said; “Once again, we are proud to be the title sponsor of Europe’s most prominent annual basketball event; EuroLeague Final Four taking place in the beautiful city of Belgrade this year. We have been the official title sponsor since 2010, each year witnessing the best teams compete with passion and ardour along with the fantastic joy of basketball fans around the world. We, as Turkish Airlines, are always committed to supporting sports and sporting excellence worldwide as we firmly believe in the power of sports in uniting people across cultures, which is highly similar to our core business; connecting cultures and bringing people together across a wide-reaching worldwide flight network, that we persistently work on to further extend.”
M. İlker Aycı continued; “A weekend of top sporting action is upon us, and as we see the teams go head to head for victory in Belgrade, we wish all the success to the competitors. May the best team win.”
“We are very proud to welcome all basketball fans one more year to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four. This season the capital of Serbia will open its doors to thousands of basketball supporters that together with enthusiastic Belgrade citizens will enjoy multiple activities during the weekend.” states Mr. Jordi Bertomeu, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO. “I would like to thank Turkish Airlines for its great support since 2010 and for all the awesome activities they will develop during the Final Four. Our sponsors are a fundamental part of our organisation and they are integral to growing the sport of basketball.”
The finals take place in the Štark Arena, Serbia’s largest indoor arena with a seating capacity of 16.967 and stands for basketball with additional capacity. Held for the first time this year in Belgrade, the EuroLeague Final Four is broadcast globally in the five continents.
Fenerbahçe Doğuş Istanbul and Žalgiris Kaunas will kick off the final round with the first game to be played within today at 18.00h (local time), followed by CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid at 21.00. The losing teams of these matches will compete for the third place in the league table on Sunday, 20 May, at 17.00. The Championship game takes place on Sunday, 20 May, at 20.00.
