SIGAL UNIQA Balkan League is just one round away from the end of the First Stage. A lot of things are already clear but there are others that still need to be decided.
In group A it′s 100% certain that BC Beroe and KK Kumanovo 2009 are through to the Second Stage. Those teams will meet in Stara Zagora on Tuesday and the winner will finish first in the group.
As for the other two spots for the Second Stage there are four teams fighting for it. The other games in the last round are KB Bashkimi - KK Teodo and KK Kozuv - KB Sigal Prishtina.
Whoever the winner of the game KB Bashkimi - KK Teodo is, than this team will qualify for the Second Stage. Then if Kozuv defeats Sigal Prishtina at home will also advance.
However if Teodo loses against Bashkimi the team can still qualify. In order for that to happen though Sigal Prishtina will have to defeat Kozuv away by at least 11 points difference.
Of course the champions are in the toughest position of all teams and their chances are more than slim. First they need to defeat Kozuv and then three teams will finish with the same record - Sigal, Kozuv and the loser of Bashkimi and Teodo. In both cases though, whether it′s Bashkimi or Teodo, the champions will need to win by a huge margin. If Bashkimi loses at home then Sigal will have to defeat Kozuv by 37 points in order to qualify. However if Teodo is the losing team then Sigal has to win by 57 points to advance.
The situation in group B is much more clear as all the four teams that will go through to the Second Stage are already know. The games that are left to be played are KB Peja - SK Tirana, KK Karpos Sokoli 2000 - MKK Feni Industries and KK Sutjeska - KB Trepca.
The only question is which team will finish first between Peja and Feni. The Yellows have the advantage in the direct matches after winning by a bigger margin at home which means that if they beat Tirana will finish first. However if Peja is to lose that game than Feni will have to win against Karpos Sokoli in Skopje to finish first.
The Second Stage will start on January 31st and will consist of two groups - C and D. In group C we′ll have the teams finished 1st and 4th in group A and the teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in group B. Then in group D we′ll have the 1st and 4th from group B and the 2nd and 3rd from group A. The results between the teams that were in the same group in the First Stage will count for the Second which means that each squad will play a total of four games.