NICOSIA, 20 May 2009 -
It was about time for some serious tests. The Cyprus
Men's Basketball National Team as of today is in Novi
Sad, Serbia, as part of its preparations for the XIII
Games of the Small States of Europe. Cyprus will face
Vojvodina Novi Sad (on Thursday), KK Novi Sad (on
Friday), Zeleznik Belgrade (on Saturday) and Radnicki
Kragujevac (on Sunday).
All games will be played in Novi Sad, except for the one
against Zeleznik, which will be in Belgrade.
Friendlies against tough
opponents assist the improvement of team chemistry and
will definitely help the coaches. The Cyprus National
Team will be back home on 26 May. From 31 May, the whole
delegation will move into a hotel, for the duration of
the GSSE.
"We
are going to Novi Sad in order to prepare as well as
possible for the GSSE, where we have set high goals,"
said Evangelos Acheriotis, head of the Cyprus delegation
in Serbia. "I am sure that all the players will work
hard and will give their best so that the team is ready
for the GSSE. I would like to take this opportunity to
thank the Electric Authority of Cyprus, which is the
National Team’s primary sponsor, as well as our
secondary sponsors, Cyta, Hellenic Bank, Lumiere TV and
OPAP."
On behalf of the
players, Giorgos Palalas said: "We will work hard,
together with our coaches, mainly to improve team
chemistry, but also for each one of us to be ready for
the GSSE. I think that the friendly games in Serbia will
help us a lot, as we will face some really good
opponents."
The players of the delegation in Seribia
are: Panayiotis Trisokkas, Panayiotis Yiannas, Joseph
(Jo-Jo) Garcia, Aris Koronides, Giorgos Anastasiadis,
Giorgos Palalas, Alexis Liatsos, Grigoris Pantouris,
Giorgos Neophytou, Giorgos Theocharides, Stratis
Stylianou, Tolis Kaskiris, Vasilis Kounas, Christopher
Razis. The coaches are Christos Stylianides, Linos
Gavriel and Nikos Lambrias, accompanied by team
assistant
is
Petros Efthivoulou.
PP/MH/CD