The poster for the tour will undoubtedly take place at the Bouhima Hall in Radès where the two Tunisian record holders, Etoile Sportive Radésienne and Stade Nabeulien, will battle it out in a duel that promises to be thrilling suspense. The three other Pro A involved in this round, the Jeunesse Sportive Kairouanaise, the Etoile Sportive Goulettoise and the Dalia Sportive de Grombalia, opposed to divisional players, should make their extra skills prevail, despite the ordeal of the trip, the Chabiba against the Club Sportif de Hammam Sousse, the Aiglons against the Association Megrine Sport and the Vignerons against the Jeunesse Athlétique de Bougatfa. As for the only fight between Nationale 1 clubs, it will pit the Hammam-Lif Sports Club and Ezzahra Sport against each other.
If we could go back in time, we would revel in this basketball from the golden era imperially made by the traditional bastions of the orange ball, first and foremost the ESR and the SN who still jointly hold the record in the cup event, i.e. 12 garlands in the trophy gallery of each of them.
Over time, however, money having become the execrable sinews of war but especially following the deliberate desire of our august federal councilors of unfortunate memory, to cut off arms and legs from these clubs, certainly financially deprived but considered to be the legendary sanctuaries of national basketball and this, in the name of shameless cronyism, such a poster has notoriously lost its splendor. Thus the ESR, the SN, the ESG and EZS as an intimate indication, they began to decline in the hierarchy, until facing the torments of decline in the confines of the lower division. Having briefly touched on this, let us stick to current events this time, starting by recalling the formula underlying the cutting test.
CA and USM, exempt
It is only a priori, a 1/16e final supposes the progress of 16 matches involving no less than 32 teams, a number which is cruelly lacking in our regions, another chapter to be raised later and which can largely explain the drop in the ambient technical level. However, there are only 21 clubs between what is unduly and very wrongly described as “Pro A” and the Nationale 1 which is the equivalent of the second division. Thus the finalists of the previous edition are automatically exempt from this first round, the Club Africain and the Union Sportive Monastienne in this case, in addition to nine other clubs drawn at random.
The remaining 10 compete, so to speak, for this famous 1/16e final, given that for the next round, we will find a total of 16 clubs, which will give rise to authentic 8th finals and so on. Concerning the present round, the poster is none other than ESR-SN, firstly in view of the unbreakable reputation of the two clubs despite the hazards and contingencies they have experienced, then regarding the only Pro A which will compete between them, even if they do not currently “work” in the same framework, the Play-out for the Radésiens and the Play-off for the Nabeuliens. The fact remains that the intrinsic value of the two teams being significantly close, total indecision is in principle taken for granted.
Will there be “Little Thumbs”?
Let us certify from the outset that this eventuality is a real challenge. This is because it is implausible to see the three tenants of “Pro A” being fleeced by divisional officers, even if the lady cuts had these eccentricities and these eccentricities that reason ignores. To follow logic, the JSK, the ESG and the DSG, despite the fortuitous nature of the trip, have free rein to temper the enthusiasm and ardor of the Hammam Sousse Sports Club, the Megrine Sport Association and the Bougatfa Athletic Youth. Apart from the 4 hosts of Nationale 1 qualified by draw, it is certain that a fifth divisional will be present in the round of 16, either the Club Sportif de la Garde Nationale or Ezzahra Ssport who will compete.
Wahid SMAOUI
Exempt clubs
CA and USM (automatically being the finalists of the last edition), ESS, JSM, USA, BCM, ASH, CSS, CAB, ASM and CSGN (drawn at random)
Programme
Room of Radès: ESR-SN
Hammam Sousse room: CSHS-JSK
El Ouardia room: JAB-DSG
Megrine’s room: AMS-ESG
Hammam-Lif room: CSHL-EZS
