Kosovo Basketball Federation made all the preparations needed for the participation of Kosovo’s NT of both group ages, U16 and U20, in the European Championship.
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport is the biggest supporter of Kosovo’s NT’s participation in the European Championships, in San Marino (U16) and Hungary (U20).
During the media conference, KBF mentioned two other sponsors of the NT: IPKO and TEB Bank.
At the media conference, that took place on Friday, at the Swiss Diamond Hotel, heads of KBF together with the coaches and sponsors expressed their satisfaction for being part of the new era of the basketball of Kosovo.
Kosovo’s NT U16 will participate in the European Championship, in San Marino from 6 until 11 July, in Division C, Group B, together with Gibraltar, Monaco and Wells.
Kosovo will make its debut in the first day of the Championship, against Gibraltar.
Meanwhile, Kosovo’s NT U20 will participate in the European Championship U20, Division B, Group B, together with Georgia, Portugal, Montenegro and Luxemburg. The competitions of this Division will take place from 9 until 19 July 2015, in Szekesfehervar, Hungary. Kosovo’s first game will be against Portugal, on July 9th.
President of Kosovo Basketball Federation said that he is very happy that for the first time in our history, Kosovo is part of international competitions. He is convinced that Kosovo will make a good appearance in the European Championship. “It is my pleasure to introduce you to the two National Teams of Kosovo, who will defend the colors of Kosovo and will represent our country for the first time ever, in an international competition of FIBA. NT U16 will be the first to play against Gibraltar, on July 6th, in San Marino and this will be a mark of a historical moment for the basketball of Kosovo and we are hoping for a big success in both competitions” stated Mr. Belegu. Number 1 of Kosovo basketball added that both NT’s have been exercising for a while now and according to him our teams are well prepared for these big European events.
Selector of the U20 NT of Kosovo, Ilir Selmani said that the exercises went really well. Selmani believes that his team will represent Kosovo in the best possible way in Hungary.
“The exercises have begun two months ago and everything went according to the plan. During these two months, we had three friendly games which helped us a great deal and I believe that in Hungary we will represent our country in the best possible way” said Selmani.
Selector of the U16 NT of Kosovo, Chris Dial believes that his team will represent Kosovo in the best possible way in our first international challenges. Dial is very happy that he will debut with Kosovo in the European Championship.
“Every time we throw the ball we throw it to score and we are going to San Marino to win. During our exercises I taught my players to play for the win. Kosovo’s participation in this Championship means a lot and my guys are aware of that and for that reason they will do their best to win. I want to thank our sponsors, without them a big part of the exercises would have been impossible and a great work of the federation would go unnoticed and now is the time to show what we’ve done. We will have to wait and see how successful we will be in the Championship” said Dial.
Afterwards, two sponsors of Kosovo National Teams U16 and U20 were presented. IPKO and TEB will be sponsoring the two NT’s.
IPKO representative, Alban Kastrati said that he is very happy that IPKO continuously supports the basketball in Kosovo. He added that IPKO believed in the basketball of Kosovo, the clubs, player’s talent and that’s why they will continue to support this sport, because he and the company believe that these boys will represent Kosovo in the best possible way in the international competitions.
Also the representative of TEB Bank, Ten Orcun Ozdemir has promised that this institution will continue to support the basketball in Kosovo. He said that TEB is the sponsor of youth leagues and that it will continue to sponsor them for the next two years. “We are very happy with our cooperation with the Kosovo Basketball Federation and for that reason the cooperation will continue. We hope that these boys will make us very happy with their representation in the competitions” said Ozdemir.
At the end, both selector of the NT U16 and NT U20 have published the list of the basketball players that will be playing in the European Championship.
NT U16:
Kreshnik Avdija, Almir Berisha, Edison Gashi, Dardan Kapiti, Atik Koshi, Etnik Peci, Dion Pllana, Erjon Qarkaxhija, Engjell Ramaj, Ylldrit Sahiti, Deniz Simnica and Andi Vrapcani.
NT U20:
Musab Mala, Lorik Kllokoqi, Leonard Mekaj, Ujkan Karanez, Erris Nushi, Agon Selmani, Blendi Kadushi, Mergim Jakupi, Burim Zekiqi, Samir Zekiqi, Arian Mehmeti and Mirza Muriq.