Beirut club captain Rodrigue Akl expressed great joy that his team reached the final round of the Lebanese Basketball Championship after beating Hikma 3-0 in the series.

The team took their third win last night in a thrilling match that required an extra game which was decided by coach Ahmed Farran’s team 91-88.

Speaking about the series against Al-Hikma, Akel felt that the team performed well in the first two matches, and rather easily decided them in his favor, unlike what happened in the third match.

And the seasoned playmaker, in an exclusive interview with sportswriter Issa Yassin, felt that the team was clearly affected by the absence yesterday of its Tunisian star Saleh Al-Majri and his standout Eli Chamoun.

But the most important thing, according to him, is to win and reach the final, although in the third match they were not in the best shape.

Akel paid tribute to the Al Hikma club who fought to the last breath to stay in this series, especially in yesterday’s match.

Asked about the final round, Akl confirmed that the goal of the first team is to win the Lebanese championship and that preparations for the final have already begun.

Rodrigue noted that things will be much more difficult in the final round, especially in the event of the arrival of a sports club, which has improved significantly with the arrival of the duo of Ismail Ahmed and Alamuddin Kikanovich.