The U-16 Türk Telekom Tournament, held in Gaziantep (Turkey), reached the third day of competition and only three teams (two of them from Europe) are still unbeaten: Turkey, Russia and China. Watching the individual performances bulgarian forward Aleksandar Vezenkov ('95) shined again, but his team lost. The prospect, currently playing in greek Aris, is averaging 28.7 points, 18.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Turkey and Russia are playing in a good level, with local rising-star Kenan Sipahi ('95) without showing his best (six of his teammates have scored more points) but with James Metecan Birsen ('95) sending great sensations. For russians, Viacheslav Fedorchenko ('95) is leading an interesting squad behind his 20.3 points every day. Let's check what happened, without forgetting a non-european team like China, with 2.15 center Qi Zhao ('96), only 14 years old, averaging 20.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks.

 

Group A:

 

Romania 58 Russia 84: Another great contest of Viacheslav Fedorchenko ('95), with 18 points (6/11 FG), 3 assists and 3 steals, helped by Alexander Martynov ('95) -19 and 4 rebounds- and Vasily Martynov ('95) -14 and 5- was enough for Russia to add its third win in three games. Wasn't necessary Konstantin Kulikov ('95), who played only 17 minutes (2 points, 4 rebounds and 4 blocks). Even russians were winning during all the game was in the last period when they crashed the opponent (11-29). Vlad Cobzaru ('95) ended as the best of romanians after collecting a double-double (17 points and 15 rebounds), while point-guard Caslan Todorov ('95) nailed 14 with 4/5 from downtown (watch highlights).

 

Ukraine 79 Puerto Rico 74: First victory for ukranians after a tied game and due to the big difference inside the paint (47-27 in rebounds). Most of the points at winner side were from Vladen Berezhnyy ('95) -22 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks-, Anton Dzyuba ('95) -21 points, 12 rebounds and 1 steal- and Igor Boyarkin ('95), with 15 points, 5 steals and 4 assists. Ukraine won even after 29 turnovers (watch highlights).

 

Turkey 71 Germany 61: Hosts remain unbeaten after three days, with James Metecan Birsen ('95) leading the victory over germans with 14 points (6/10 FG), 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Beside him Cedi Osman ('95) added 14 with 6 boards and dishing 3 assists and Ayberk Güleryüz ('95) scoring 11 with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Turkish started amazing (24-9), using this run during all the game. They missed many threes (1/18), but dominated the rebound (48-30), specially on the offense board (23). Gavin Schilling ('95), from Urspringschule, ended as the best german scorer with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Guard Ismet Akpinar ('95) nailed 12 with 3 assists and 2 steals (watch highlights).

 

Standings: Turkey and Russia (3-0), Germany (2-1), Ukraine (1-2), Puerto Rico and Romania (0-3).

 

Group B:

 

France 67 China 69: Huge 2.15 center Qi Zhou ('96) was a nightmare for french, finishing with 29 points (8/12 FG) and 8 rebounds. French started bad (-13 at halftime), but recovered in the third period (20-8). In the last minutes asiatics showed their physical skills, earning the third win. Olivier Yao-delon ('95) tallied 21 points with 3/5 from downtown and 4 rebounds, while 2.00 Lucas Paoletti ('95) added 10 with 2 blocks and 1 steal. Damien Inglis ('95) -#7 at Eurohopes'95- was fouled out after only 17 minutes: 9 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals (watch highlights).

 

Bulgaria 63 Slovenia 72: Another big game of prospect Aleksandar Vezenkov ('95), but not enough to beat slovenians. The forward collected another huge double-double (19 points, 18 rebounds and 5 assists), even the best bulgarian scorer was Nicolai Georgiev ('95) with 20 (9/12 FG), 6 boards and 1 block. The game was tied, with bulgarians wining the first and third periods. The threes made by slovenians were also important for a team where point-guard Matic Rebec ('95) finished with 15 points, 7 assists and 5 steals. Beside him three more players scored in double-figures, with youngster Nejc Zupan ('96) also shining: 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists (watch highlights).

 

Georgia 50 Iran 62: Georgians still don't know what is a victory, in this case after losing against a team led by Vahid Dalrizahan ('95), who finished with 21 points, 17 rebounds and 6 steals. Guard Sandro Bolkvadze ('95) wasn't enough for them: 18 points with 2/3 threes and 8 rebounds. Nugzar Abuladze ('95) scored 12 but 5/19 FG and 6 turnovers. No comment on the result of the third quarter: 0-19.

 

Standings: China (3-0), France and Slovenia (2-1), Bulgaria and Iran (1-2) and Georgia (0-3).

 

Photo (turkish Cedi Osman): Official Website Tournament