Al-Jaish Damascus (in Arabic نادي الجيش الرياضي?) is a basketball club based in the city of Damascus in Syria, which is part of the Al-Jaish Sports Club Damascus; competes in the highest national category, the Syrian Basketball League[1][2]. Its social colors are red, white and black.
The club was founded in 1947 in Damascus as a sports division of the Syrian Army under the name Al-Jaish Sports Club Damascus[3]; the multi-sports club has since been active in various sports, including volleyball, handball and rugby, but the two most successful and popular sports sections are basketball and football which has 29 national trophies on its board.
The club’s basketball section did not have a significant impact on the Syrian Basketball League until the early 2000s and only in the Syrian Cup had it managed to obtain its first trophies thanks to victories in 1989, 1997 and 1999. The club achieved the its first great success in the 2003-2004 season, advancing to the SBL Finals 6 thanks to third place in the final standings, then defeating Jalaa Aleppo in the final, thus winning the Syrian Basketball League for the first time[4] . In the following season, 2004-2005, the club finished second in the regular season, again advancing to the final round for the title; in the playoffs of the 47th season of the Syrian Basketball League, Al-Jaish, after the fundamental victory against the momentary leaders in the table Al Ittihad Aleppo 73-65, was crowned champion for the second time in a row. However, Al-Jaish won, reaching equal points with Jalaa Aleppo, but the direct clashes in favor of the Damascus team decreed the final victory[5].
In 2005, the club also participated for the first time in the WABA Champions Cup where, after obtaining three defeats and two victories, against the Yemeni Al-Shabab (98–51) and the Iraqi Al-Hilla SC ( 102-64), finished in fourth place and qualified for the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.[6]
In the group stage of the 2005 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Al Jaish lost in their debut match against Al Kuwait 85–89, and also against Zain Club 78–94 and Al-Rayyan Doha 54–79 ; however, the victory over Al Sharjah 75–63 was enough to advance to the quarterfinals, as the fourth and last seed in the group. The team, led on the field by Tony Rutland and John Carter, however lost in the quarterfinals against the Iranians of Saba Battery Tehran 65–76; Al-Jaish concluded the competition with a 77-71 victory against Tobol Kostanay, thus taking the 7th place finish[7].
After finishing in third place in both the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons[8]reached the final round of the Syrian Basketball League also in the 2007-2008 season, where, however, they had to settle for second place behind Jalaa Aleppo[9]. In the 2008-2009 season, after finishing the regular season in second place in the standings and after defeating city rivals Al Wahda Damascus in the semi-finals, they reached the final of the SBL, where however they were defeated in all three matches of the series played , again against Jalaa Aleppo[10].
The following season, 2009-2010, under the guidance of coach Imad Othman and with players such as Christien Charles, Abdullah Hakam and Nour al Saman, they advanced to the playoffs after finishing the regular season with a record of 18 wins and 4 losses , where they first defeated Talyia in the quarter-finals, and then won the derby against rivals Al Wahda Damascus in the semi-finals, to reach the SBL finals for the second consecutive year. In the final series they clashed, as in the previous year, against Jalaa Aleppo but after losing the first match by 96-104, Al-Jaish won both in the second by 77-74 and in the third, decisive match by 92–88, becoming champions of the Syrian Basketball League again after five years[11][12].
In the 2010-2011 season, the reigning champion team easily qualified for the playoffs, finishing the regular season in second place. In the final phase of the championship, Al-Jaish beat Al Ittihad Aleppo in the quarter-finals, 2-1 in the series and for the third year in a row their rivals Al Wahda Damascus, with a clear 2-0 in the series semifinal series, advancing to the final for the third consecutive year. The final series repeated the challenge played in the last two editions, pitting Al-Jaish against Jalaa Aleppo, who however prevailed in all three matches played, snatching the title from Al-Jaish[13]. In the same season the team also participated in the 2011 WABA Champions Cup, where after finishing second in the group stage and obtaining qualification to the final stage, they lost to the Lebanese team Al-Riyadi Beirut by 87–94 and 63–84 in the two quarterfinal matches.[14]
In the play-off semi-finals of the 2011-2012 SBL, Al-Jaish, after being eliminated for the umpteenth time at the hands of Jalaa Aleppo who won 73-83 and 69-81 in the two matches of the series, obtained the 3rd place finish[15]. But the team avenged the championship defeat by beating Jalaa Aleppo in the final of the Syrian Cup that year, with the result of 78-71, thus winning the trophy.[16]
In the 2012-2013 season, the Syrian Basketball League was canceled due to the spread of the Syrian Civil War, so the club only participated in that year’s edition of the WABA Champions Cup; in the competition the club unfortunately lost against all the opponents in its group and finished in seventh place.[17]
After a failed championship, which ended with a third place finish, in the 2013-2014 season, Al-Jaish took part in the 2013 FIBA Asia Champions Cup[18]. In the group stage despite being defeated in all three matches, respectively against Foo. Mah. Sepahan by 56–91, Al-Hala Muharraq by 89–106 and ASU Sports Club by 71–90, nevertheless advanced to the quarterfinals as the last seed. In the final draw they lost, in the quarter-finals, against Al-Rayyan Doha of Qatar by 71-82, then finishing in 6th place after losing the final for fifth place against the Iraqi team of Duhok by 95-97.[19][20]
In the 2015-2016 season, the “Great Era” of Al-Jaish began, when the team, led on the bench by coach Khaled Abo Touk and on the pitch by Rami Merjaneh and Hakam Abdullah, managed to win the first national Double in the history of the club. After five editions the club returned to victory in the Syrian Basketball League, after defeating Al Ittihad Aleppo in the semifinals it reached the final where it met with Al-Karamah, who however were defeated in all three games of the series (77–62 , 84–73, 87–79), handing the national title to Al-Jaish[21]The double of national titles was completed with victory in the Syrian Cup after defeating Al Ittihad Aleppo in the final[22].
The following season, 2016-2017, they managed to win the Syrian Basketball League for the second consecutive year, but were eliminated in the Syrian Cup in the quarter-finals by city rivals Al Wahda Damascus. As a result of winning the national title, the team qualified for and managed to advance to the 2018 WABA Champions Cup, which however ended in fourth and last place after losing all three matches played against P. Bandar Imam, Al-Riyadi Beirut and Sareyyet Ramallah[23]. Despite the disappointing performance on the international stage, during the 2017-2018 season the team managed to confirm itself as champion of the Syrian Basketball League for the third consecutive year.
In the 2018-2019 SBL playoffs, the team led by players such as Rami Merjaneh and Abdulwahab Al-Hamwi managed to beat Al-Hurriya 2-0 (81–70, 87–55) in the quarterfinal series and then Al Ittihad Aleppo again 2-0 (72 –71, 77–74) in the semi-finals and advance to the final.[30] In the SBL final, they also finally managed to beat Jalaa Aleppo with the result of 3-1 in the series and thanks to three victories of 81–45, 73–80 and 72–64 and managed to defend the title again[24]. It was their fourth consecutive Syrian Basketball League title, setting a new club record for the most successive domestic titles won[25] . The season was also crowned by the victory, in the final of the Syrian Cup, against Al-Wathba 81–59, which allowed Al-Jaish to win the national double again[26]. However, this season’s successes put an end to the team’s “Great Era”.
The following season, 2019-2020, was canceled due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this necessary decision hit the club’s season hard as it had already advanced to the semi-finals of the SBL. The team was also eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Syrian Cup.[27]
In the 2020–2021 season, Al-Jaish finished the regular season in first place with a record of 20 wins and two losses, thus obtaining qualification for the playoffs; here, however, they were defeated 2-1 in the series in the derby against Al Wahda Damascus[28]. The disappointing conclusion of the championship adventure was also accompanied by the defeat in the Syrian Cup final against Jalaa Aleppo 44–59.[29]
During the 2022-2023 season the team returned to win a trophy, after four years, thanks to the victory against Al-Nawair Hama 53-39 in the Syrian Cup final, thus also obtaining the tenth victory in the history of the competition[30].
Al Jaish plays its home matches at Al-Fayhaa Sports Arena, a sports arena located in the Salihiyah district, in the city of Damascus, owned by the Syrian government. It has a capacity of 6,000 seats.
National titles[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
- Syrian Basketball League
- Champions (7): 2003-2004, 2004-2005, 2009-2010, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019
- Second place (3): 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2010-2011
- Syrian Basketball Cup
- Champions (9): 1989, 1997, 1999, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2023
- Second place (3): 2003, 2004, 2021
Roster 2023-2024[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
The roster for the 2023-2024 season [31]
Technical staff[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
2024-04-29 21:21:05
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