A pair of two-time former champions headline the field for the Euroleague Basketball Adidas Next Generation Tournament Istanbul.
Former champs Real, Zalgiris headline ANGT Istanbul
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The 19th edition of the competition continues with this season's second qualifying event, to be held on March 19-21 in the Turkish metropolis.
U18 Real Madrid, which won the European crown in 2015 and 2019, and U18 Zalgiris Kaunas, the winner from 2003 and 2007, will both head to Turkey hoping that this is the first step to collecting a third ANGT title and pulling even with record winner U18 CSKA Moscow. The rest of the field includes host team U18 Anadolu Efes Istanbul, 2018 runner-up U18 Stellazzurra Rome of Italy, 2012 runner-up U18 Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, which was a replacement for Greek side U18 Promitheas Patras, ANGT debutant U18 Basket Brno of Czech Republic, U18 Casademont Zaragoza of Spain and Turkey's U18 Tofas Bursa, which replaced U18 Pole France Yvan Mainini (formerly known as CFBB Paris/INSEP).
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in Munich, but because Germany's pandemic protocols do not allow non-professional sporting events to take place, the ANGT Munich needed a new home. Efes's plan to host the event was approved and the club was added to the competition for previously-planned host U18 FC Bayern Munich.
The eight teams will be broken down into two four-team groups with each team playing each other in round-robin style at Efes's training facility. The two group winners will face off on Sunday in the first-place game with the victor of that contest qualifying for the ANGT Finals. U18 FC Barcelona booked the first ticket to the ANGT Finals after winning the ANGT Valencia last December. The third qualifying tournament will be played in Belgrade on March 26-28 to determine the third spot in the ANGT Finals. The remaining five teams in the field will be determined by wild cards.
Istanbul’s Group A consists of Efes, Brno, Zaragoza and Stellazzurra. Efes returns to the competition for the first time since 2017-18 when it went 2-1 in the group phase at ANGT Belgrade and ended up finishing fourth. Brno will be making its debut in the event. The team is coached by Lubos Barton, who won the 2010 EuroLeague title with Barcelona and the 2008 ULEB Cup with Joventut Badalona. Zaragoza will be appearing in the competition for a second time after debuting last season at the ANGT Kaunas and going 0-4. Stellazzurra was undefeated in the group stage at the ANGT Munich last season before losing to Real Madrid in the first-place game. The Italian club reached the 2018 ANGT Championship Game and lost to U18 Rytas Vilnius.
Real tops Group B along with Zalgiris, Fenerbahce and Tofas. Real is the last team crowned U18 continental champion because the 2020 ANGT Finals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Real had booked its ticket to the 2020 showcase after taking first place at the ANGT Munich, the third straight time the Spanish powerhouse won the tournament in southern Germany. Real comes to Istanbul having won the last seven qualifying tournaments in which it has competed (ANGT L’Hospitalet in 2014, 2015 and 2016, ANGT Coin in 2017 and ANGT Munich in 2018, 2019 and 2020). Zalgiris, which in addition to two titles also reached the ANGT Championship Game in 2005, 2006 and 2011, was undefeated in the group stage of the 2020 ANGT Kaunas, but then lost to U18 Rytas Vilnius in the first-place game. Fenerbahce, which lost to U18 Rytas Vilnius in the 2012 ANGT Championship Game, finished seventh at the ANGT Kaunas last season. Tofas will be playing in the ANGT for a second time after making a winless debut last season at the ANGT Valencia.