Sagesse VS Riyadi games: A respite for the Lebanese

“We’re not tired of winning. Every new title brings us as much joy as the previous ones, especially when it comes to beating Sagesse,” said Khodor, a fan of Riyadi Beirut.

He may have seen his team winning against their historic rivals for the 10th time this season on May 27 in Qatar, in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) - Final 8. Yet, victory is far from prevailing over Manara.

Khodor was in the fan zone around the Saeb Salam arena on May 21 where thousands of fans watched Riyadi win the national title for the 18th time. He was delighted to witness the Manara team’s repeated successes against Ghazir’s team.

“The party was even better this year. Beating your biggest rival, whether in Doha, Dubai or Beirut, always has a special flavor. There was suspense right to the end. There was a moment when I thought we might lose the game,” said Khodor.

A never-ending day

The final score in the five-way confrontation between Riyadi and Sagesse for the Lebanese league title (a first since 2016) leaves no room for doubt. The superiority of Manara’s team, who ended up with four wins to one in their favor, was indisputable. However, it was occasionally challenged as the rounds went on, adding to the frustration of the defeated fans.

“We’re all the more disappointed because [the team] made some stupid mistakes that could have been avoided,” said Joanna, a loyal supporter of Sagesse.

“But in the end, you must admit that Riyadi has a much better team, with much stronger bench players. This is allowing them to make the difference at the end of the game almost every time,” she added.

The same pattern repeated in the 12 games that Sagesse played against Riyadi in the 2023-2024 season. Sagesse would play evenly, sometimes even getting off to the best start, but tirelessly squanders its lead, often in the 3rd quarter, due to an increase in the rival team’s intensity or a game that goes against it.

This was the case once again on Monday when Nikola Rakocevic was removed from the game due to his fifth individual foul, and Karim Ezzedine was sent to the bench in the WASL final, when their team still had a five-point lead (67-62), before collapsing and letting victory slip away (95-86).

Disappointed but clear-headed, the Sagesse fans did not let this defeat, which was nonetheless expected, spoil the satisfaction of seeing their favorite team return to the championship final after an eight-year absence.

Rare moments of joy

It was an opportunity that convinced Ahmad, originally from Nabatieh, to return to the stadium in Ghazir for the first time since 1999, during Sagesse’s golden years. “It was a special experience for me to be back here after all this time. I saw myself again as the student who used to skip school to go to the stadium when supporting Sagesse was a sign of protest against the Syrian occupation,” he recalled.

Jonathan Gibson’s three-pointer with three seconds on the clock before the end of final game 2 lit up the crowd at Antoine Choueiri’s stadium. This has rarely been seen in recent years. “I was shaking. I was on the edge of my seat for the last 30 seconds and couldn’t breathe,” recalled Joanna.

All these emotions reflect what basketball represents in Lebanon: It is more than just a sport. “When I watch Sagesse play, I forget everything else. It’s a breath of fresh air amid all the problems that plague the country,” she said.

“Moments of joy are so rare in Lebanon these days that we partied all night,” said Khodr, referring to Riyadi’s latest title celebrations. “We followed the players’ bus on our scooters for an hour along the Cornish. It was crazy,” he recalled.

Standing by his players in Doha, Mazen Tabbara was well aware of his “mission of general interest” as president of the Riyadi club. “We must protect this game that all Lebanese love,” he told L’Orient-Le Jour.

When Wael Arakji and Ismail Ahmad got off the players’ bus to argue with a Sagesse fan who had used insulting language at the end of final game 2, Tabbara’s reflex was to immediately call for calm so as not to spoil the party.

“It was the final that everyone wanted to see, and we expected a lot of pressure and passion in the game. But everyone involved was able to deal with it, and that’s great for the image of Lebanese basketball,” he said.

But this 2023-2024 season has yet to end. Both teams still have a chance to reach the WASL final currently held in Qatar.

For Riyadi, it’s a chance to achieve a perfect record. For Sagesse, it’s a chance to round off a successful season and say a fond farewell to their coach, Jad al-Hajj, who will soon take over the Bahrain national team.

“We aim to come full circle and win every possible title,” said Tabbara. “I have every confidence in our coach, Ahmad Farran, the real captain of the ship, to motivate all the players and maintain this high standard. Because that’s the club’s DNA: Keeping the hunger for victory alive.”

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Joelle El Khoury.