JEDDAH, 11 June 2006 — Jordan’s Fastlink captured the title in the 17th Asian Clubs Championship for the 1st time in their history crushing Al Jalaa’ of Syria by 25 points 94-69.
Al-Rayyan from Qatar took 3rd place by beating Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad 102-64. Iran’s Saba took 5th with a 96-80 win over host team Al-Qadisia of Kuwait 96-80 at Fag’han Hilal Al-Mutairi court in Kuwait.
Al Jalaa’ led briefly in the first period, and finished the quarter down by only three 22-19.
Fastlink ended the half up seven 45-38. Both teams were playing extremely well and the game was still too tight to call. Al Jalaa’s import Ace Curtis and Julius Nwosu did well along with Faslink’s Nate Johnson, Damien Cantrell and Enver Soobzokov.
Fastlink played brilliant in the tournament. Al-Jalaa’ had bad luck after injuries to the team’s star Michel Madanli and Sharif Al Sharif. Fastlink took over the game and never look back. High scorers for Fastlink: Damien Cantrell 21 points, Enver Soobzokov 19 points, Nate Johnson 16 points, Zaid Al Khas 14 points, Sam Daghlas 10 points,
The after game celebrations began with a breathtaking & enchanting presentation ceremony. The winning team celebrated with foam spray followed by overhead rolling flashing lights sparkling across the court as balloons showered from the ceiling with dazzling glitters and streamers.
The tournament awardees were as follows: Best Center - Romanian Virgil Stanescu (Al-Qadisia) Best Winger- American Nate Johnson (Fastlink) Best 3-pts Shooter - Jordanian Enver Soobzokov (Fastlink) Best Defender - Qatari Yaseen Ismail (Al Rayyan) Best Point Guard: American Marlon Parmer (Ittihad Jeddah) Best Scorer of the Tournament: Nate Johnson with 155 points Fair Play Award: Al-Jalaa’ Club.
