Kurdish Globe

Saturday, 03 October 2009, 02:03 EDT

Iraqi basketball league to be hosted in Suleimaniyah

The Kurdish Globe

The Iraqi Basketball Federation (IBF) appointed October 6 as the start
date for the 2009 season of the Iraqi women’s basketball
league. Thirteen teams will compete, including six teams from
Kurdistan.

"Due to its convenience and safe conditions, Suleimaniyah city has
been chosen to hold the tournament," said IBF secretary Khalid Najim.

The clubs included in the tournament are Nawroz, new Sirwan, Peshmerga
and Suleimaniyah from the Suleimaniyah province; Akad from the Kurdish
capital city of Erbil; Sanharib from the Duhok governorate; Bartilah
from Mosul city; Kirkuk Fatat from the province of Kirkuk; Baghdad
Fatat, the Armenian girls, the girls of the martyr Ohan team from the
Iraqi capital city of Baghdad; Salam from Anbar; and Baladi from the
province of Babylon.

The teams will be divided into three groups to play at league single
stage, as the two top finishers in each group will be able to reach to
the second round. Then, four teams will qualify for the semifinal,
which takes place in a junction where two winners will compete for
first place. According to Najim, the champion and the runners-up will
be given the right to participate in international competitions as
Iraqi basketball representatives.

In Kurdistan, the Akad girls, who won the Kurdistan league title last
season, are expected to make it to the second round easily since they
are enriched with highly qualified young ladies.

"Of course, we got to the championship level and we won, and we expect
to win again and again, but we know it’s going to take hard work, and
I think we are going to embrace that," said Nada Gorgis, captain of
Akad.

In Gorgis’s view, the players’ adherence to the coach’s instructions
and their dedicated love for the team will incite them to play as hard
as they can.

She added, "I, just like the staff members of my club, will continue
doing what we have done and never let the team down."