Basketball: EuroLeague semis begin Friday in Belgrade

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four action starts Friday in Belgrade's Stark Arena as Fenerbahce Dogus face Zalgiris Kaunas and Real Madrid take on CSKA Moscow.

The Fenerbahce Dogus-Zalgiris Kaunas match is to start at 6 p.m. local time (1600GMT).

Defending champions Fenerbahce Dogus managed to qualify for the Final Four after eliminating Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz 3-1 in the quarterfinal series.

Fenerbahce participate for the 12th time in Europe's most prestigious club competition. This is the fourth consecutive time they are in the Final Four.

The Istanbul team will look to repeat last year's success, when they beat Olympiakos 80-64 to claim the title, becoming the first Turkish club to do so.

The team is coached by legendary Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic.

Their opponent Zalgiris Kaunas managed to beat Olympiakos 3-1 in the quarterfinal series. This is the Lithuanian club's first Final Four appearance since 1999.

Zalgiris Kaunas are coached by a Lithuanian basketball legend, Sarunas Jasikevicius. Nicknamed "Saras", the coach played for Obradovic in Panathinaikos, when they won the Euroleague title in 2009.

Real Madrid have claimed the most championships in EuroLeague history with nine trophies. CSKA Moscow have claimed seven EuroLeague trophies while Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas and Turkey's Fenerbahce Dogus each have one title.

The winners of Friday's matches will square off on Sunday for the title.

The Real Madrid-CSKA Moscow is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (1800GMT).

Here are all the winners of Euroleague: