Lebanese fans the real winners as Beirut Derby goes from local to regional

DOHA (Qatar) - Wael Arakji and Al Riyadi never fail to show appreciation to their ever-supportive fans in whichever venue they play in, regardless of the game's result.

That has been evident in their ongoing FIBA WASL Final 8 2024 campaign, especially on Monday night after the two-time reigning West Asia League champions beat Sagesse SC at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall to remain unbeaten and move even closer to the Semi-Finals.

“I believe all Lebanese people living abroad deserve to watch the Derby live.”- Wael Arakji

All of the Yellow Castle stood in front of their faithful with their arms raised in victory and the star guard couldn't be any happier, but not solely because of the match's outcome.

For him, to have brought the famed Beirut Derby close to the Lebanese basketball fans living away from home, like in Qatar for instance, makes everything all the more sweet.

"Congratulations to the Lebanese fans. I believe all Lebanese people living abroad deserve to watch the Derby live," offered Arakji shortly after their 95-86 win. "I'm grateful that we were able to share the excitement that we have in Lebanon with them here in Qatar."

The Derby has undeniably been the biggest rivalry in Lebanese basketball and the storied clubs have brought as much outside the country, much to the delight of their fans, of course.

In 2024 alone, they have met outside the Snips Lebanese Basketball Championship a couple of times. First was in the 33rd Dubai International Basketball Championship, which saw Arakji and Co. take down their foes early in the meet to eventually go back-to-back.

Then in the FIBA WASL-West Asia Semi-Finals, where Sagesse dealt the league contenders their first loss after a 5-0 start into the season to send their best-of-3 series to the distance but ultimately fell short as Al Riyadi went on to have a successful title defense.

And on Monday night they crossed paths in the Final 8, just about a week after their duel in the LBC best-of-7 Finals that witnessed Coach Ahmad Farran's wards dominate, 4-1.

The decorated mentor, of course, felt proud to have asserted their mastery of the Green Castle, most especially in a stage as big as the pan-regional tilt's culminating event.

"It's the Derby. It's the rivalry. It's the biggest game in the region, I believe, in West Asia," he said. "Everybody is waiting for this Derby. It's always good to win against them. Games against Sagesse are complicated because we play a lot against each other - we know each other."

"That's why in the beginning of the game, we didn't watch beautiful basketball because both teams know each other very well. But it's always great to win and I'm so happy about it."

But really, Farran felt happiest for the fans.

"Big credit to the Lebanese fans. I believe that they are the winners," he said. "To come and support their teams, it's a big, big, big added value for Lebanese basketball."

FIBA