AL AHLY pulled off a spectacular, come-from-behind, 64-60, win over Al Zamalek in the Egyptian Super Cup basketball game at the Khalifa Sports City Arena last night.
The Egyptian Super Cup – which is played between the previous season’s champions of the Egyptian Basketball Premier League and the holders of the Egypt Basketball Cup – was held in the kingdom for the first time.
Al Ahly, who won their seventh Premier League title in the 2022-23 season and also clinched the Egypt Cup, squared off last night, therefore, against Al Zamalek, who were the runners-up in the latter competition.
And it was Giza-based Al Zamalek, who have won 15 Premier League titles to go along with 13 Egypt Cup trophies, who started as if they meant business, racing to an 11-7 lead after five minutes in the first quarter before Al Ahly, who are based in Cairo, stormed back to trail by just one point, at 14-13, when the second quarter began.
With their opponents’ passing and shooting leaving much to be desired, Al Zamalek steadily increased their lead in the second quarter, leading 26-20 after five minutes and 35-29 at half-time.
The arena, which was packed nearly to the rafters with hundreds of supporters from both teams who had flown in from Egypt and around the region and dozens of Egyptian expatriates who are based in Bahrain, had a carnival-like atmosphere, with fans from both sides banging large drums, singing and dancing throughout the game.
Al Ahly fans, clad in their team’s red shirts, cheered lustily when, for the first time in the game, their team managed to take the lead, at 38-37, in the fifth minute of the third quarter.
Mere seconds later, it was the turn of the Al Zamalek supporters, wearing their team’s white shirts, to scream even more loudly as their side managed to sneak ahead again, at 40-38.
When the third quarter ended, Al Zamalek led 50-45 and Al Ahly needed to find their groove quickly if they wanted to have any hope of winning the contest.
But, five minutes into the fourth and final quarter, Al Zamalek were still in the ascendancy, albeit with a very slender lead, at 56-53. A minute later, however, Al Ahly were trailing by just one point, at 58-57.
Towards the end of the seventh minute, Al Zamalek were awarded two free throws and Ahmed Ismail converted both with ease with his side now leading by three points at 60-57 and slightly more than two minutes left.
Their fans had barely stopped celebrating that point when Al Ahly’s Mark Steven dribbled his way past three Zamalek players to score a brilliant two-point driving lay-up.
Al Ahly were just one point adrift again, at 60-59, with just two minutes left in the game. But Steven had also been fouled as he scored that lay-up so he was awarded a free throw which he sank comfortably and now, his side were level with Al Zamalek, at 60-60, with everything to play for in the remaining 120 seconds.
Less than a minute later, the giant Omar Tarek ensured that Al Ahly’s determined fightback wasn’t going to be in vain as he scored a two-point lay-up to make it 62-60 for his team.
With only 75 seconds left on the clock, it was Al Zamalek who were under the pump and the pressure told on them as their previously impeccable passing and shooting suddenly went awry.
As the game entered its last 30 seconds, a foul on Al Ahly’s Amr Elgendy resulted in two free throws being awarded to him. To the horror of his team’s fans, Elgendy bungled the first throw but redeemed himself by converting the second perfectly and now, with just 21 seconds left, Al Ahly led by three points, at 63-60, and all Al Zamalek could hope to do was try and force a tie which would result in a five-minute extra-time playoff.
But it was not to be because, with just 10 seconds left till the final buzzer, another free throw was awarded to Elgendy, who made no mistake this time, and the clock ran out as the Al Zamalek players made a mad dash towards the Al Ahly penalty area.
The Al Ahly fans, who had turned half the arena into a sea of red, erupted with joy while Al Zamalek supporters looked on in disbelief before quietly filing out of the stadium.
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