The semifinals of the U-16 Türk Telekom Tournament, held in Gaziantep (Turkey), are already set after the games played today. Germany-China and Turkey-France will be the big contests looking for two spots for the final. Today, the best performance has come from bulgarian Aleksandar Vezenkov ('95) again. The forward collected a triple-double in the win over Georgia: 35 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. But the spotlight comes from the hosts, with their best prospects getting better every day. Turkish James Metecan Birsen ('95) and Kenan Sipahi ('95) led the win over Russia, knocking out the east team. The forward scored 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while the point-guard made everything: 14 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Let's check what happened today.
Group A:
Germany 64 Puerto Rico 85: Germans finished the first round with a loss against the americans, eventhough they make it to the semifinals due to their final second position in the group. The game was tied at the end of the third quarter, but a great 8-23 period for Puerto Rico killed them. Guard Ismet Akpinar ('95) shined again with 16 points (2/4 threes) and 4 assists, while youngster Jan-Niklas Wimberg ('96) made a good job with 10 points, 5 boards and 1 steal in 22 minutes (watch highlights).
Romania 56 Ukraine 87: With 10 minutes ukranians had enough to win the game, after an amazing first quarter (7-38). Seven players scored in double-digits, with Igor Boyarkin ('95) naling 16 with 6 steals, Anton Dzyuba ('95) adding 14 with 3/5 from downtown and 2.04 Vadim Prokopenko ('95) collecting a double-double: 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks in 22 minutes. No comment. For romanians Vlad Cobzaru ('95) ended as the best player of the team with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals. Guard Mehmet Hortoglu ('95) also scored: 14 and 4 rebounds but 5/17 FG (watch highlights).
Turkey 71 Russia 58: Big game of the hosts, knocking out the east team from semifinals with James Metecan Birsen ('95) and Kenan Sipahi ('95) showing why there are some of the best european prospects of their generation. Birsen scored 11 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and put 2 blocks, while the point-guard nailed 14 with 7 assists, 6 boards and 4 steals. In a tied contest the battle in the rebound became the key: 64 to 37. And what about Russia? Alexander Martynov ('95) scored 18 points, with 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and Viacheslav Fedorchenko ('95), their best scorer, added 17, but 5/19 FG (watch highlights).
Standings: Turkey (5-0), Germany and Russia (3-2), Ukraine and Puerto Rico (2-3) and Romania (0-5).
Group B:
Georgia 58 Bulgaria 84: Aleksandar Vezenkov ('95) exploded again, and with a triple-double led bulgarians to the victory. The forward scored 35 points (9/12 twos, 3/4 threes and 8/13 ft), pulled down 16 boards and dished 10 assists. Nicolai Georgiev ('95) added a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists) and Bulgaria won its second game in Gaziantep. For georgians Beka Darakhvelidze ('95) posted 17 points with 3/4 threes and 7 rebounds. Guard Zezva Liluashvili ('95) scored 14 with 5 assists and 4 steals.
Iran 42 France 64: French squad qualyfied for semifinals after finishing second of its group with a 4-1 record. Today, easy win against Iran with point-guard Arthur Rozenfeld ('95) ending as the best of his team with 18 points (2/2 threes) in only 13 minutes. With a great team game (all the prospects played at least 11 minutes) France beat asiatic squad, where Vahid Dalrizahan ('95) nailed 27 points.
Slovenia 62 China 84: Chinese reamain as the only unbeaten team with Turkey. Today slovenians shocked with the tall inside asiatic players, even Jure Ritlop ('95) -14 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks- and Matic Rebec ('95) -14 points, 3 assists and 3 steals- made a good job for europeans. At half time Slovenia was losing by 23 points.
Standings: China (5-0), France (4-1), Slovenia (3-2), Bulgaria (2-3), Iran (1-4) and Georgia (0-5).
Photo: Official Tournament Website
