AMMAN  —  Titleholders Riyadi Aramex play Ittihad Schools while former champs Applied Science University (ASU) take on Kulieh in the semis of the 10th Jordan Basketball Cup  which tipped off last week as fans gear up for the upcoming Premier Basketball League.

As the event got off to a start, Round 1 saw Kulieh beat Nashama Urdun 71-32, Ittihad outplayed Jalil 96-42 and Ashrafieh knocked out Ghazzet Hashem 64-58.

In Round 2, Riyadi trashed Ashrafieh 134-40, Kulieh beat Kufr Youba 73-59, Ittihad schools edged Orthodoxi 72-65 and ASU beat Wihdat 75-33.

Last year, Kufr Youba stunned veterans Orthodoxi 72-63 to reach the semis and then the finals which they lost against Riyadi.

The tournament is a good warm up for teams ahead of the league as teams scramble to finalise their line-ups and sign import players. 

Riyadi’s Seif Amer, who was out for a season recuperating from surgery, is back. Orthodoxi beat ASU to win back the country’s leading basketball title last year after a 10-year drought. ASU have regrouped their line-up eyeing the season’s titles.

Observers point out to a regression that negatively affected the basketball scene in the past few years and hope players and fans will return to the courts and help bring the zeal of competition to Jordan’s second most popular sport.

Riyadi beat then league champs Orthodoxi to win the inaugural Jordan Cup in 2002 following which Zain (formerly Fastlink) won the title for four consecutive seasons. Then Orthodoxi snatched the title before Zain won it again in 2009, ASU in 2010/11 and Riyadi in 2012.