Euroleague favourites Real Madrid and traditional rivals Barcelona made winning starts in the competition’s best-of-five quarter-finals after emphatic performances on Wednesday.
Real, winners of a record eight titles, defeated Anadolu Efes Istanbul 80-71 and twice former champions Barcelona beat Olympiakos 73-57 in a physical game.
Both sides will again be at home in Game 2 on Friday before the series move next week to Turkey and Greece.
Barcelona never looked back after a 17-2 run gave the Catalan giants a 22-8 lead early in the second quarter as they dominated a subdued Olympiakos in all departments.
Barca nailed 10-of-21 three point attempts against only 6-of-22 by their rivals and collected 44 rebounds, 17 more than the Greek side.
Not a single visiting player finished in double-scoring digits while the competition’s all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro and Slovenian forward Bostjan Nachbar netted 10 each at the other end.
“We are very happy to have made the first step but it will be a more difficult match on Friday and we will have to prepare ourselves for a different game of basketball,” Barcelona’s Polish centre Maciej Lampe told Euroleague television.
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“We missed some easy shots early on but played excellent defence all game long and controlled the boards,” said coach Xavi Pasqual.
Mario Hezonja, widely assumed to be a likely top-10 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, scored five points on 2-of-6 shooting in 17 minutes, adding three rebounds, two blocks and an assist.
Real gave their fans a scare when they trailed plucky Istanbul side Anadolu Efes by eight points at half-time but turned the tide after the interval as American KC Rivers produced his best performance of the season.
The forward, who averaged 4.9 points in the group stages, amassed a game-high 21 and Mexican centre Gustavo Ayon added 14 to put their team in the driving seat.
CSKA Moscow beat Panathinaikos and Fenerbahce edged holders Maccabi Tel Aviv in the other two play-off series which kicked off on Tuesday and continue on Thursday.
Jan Vesely, the 7ft 0in sixth pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, who spent parts of three NBA seasons with Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets, supplied Fenerbahce with a team-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting and seven rebounds.
Milos Teodosic, a star at the 2014 Fiba World Cup for runners-up Serbia last September, led CSKA Moscow with 18 points and dished eight assists.
The quarter-final winners will advance to the May 15-17 final four in Madrid.
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The five pillars of Islam
OIL PLEDGE
At the start of Russia's invasion, IEA member countries held 1.5 billion barrels in public reserves and about 575 million barrels under obligations with industry, according to the agency's website. The two collective actions of the IEA this year of 62.7 million barrels, which was agreed on March 1, and this week's 120 million barrels amount to 9 per cent of total emergency reserves, it added.
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Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
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Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
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'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press
England squad
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Ben White
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount, Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse
Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Raheem Sterling
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Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
The studios taking part (so far)
- Punch
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Director: S Shankar
Producer: Lyca Productions; presented by Dharma Films
Cast: Rajnikanth, Akshay Kumar, Amy Jackson, Sudhanshu Pandey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
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Fight card
1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)
9. Featherweight 66kg: Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
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- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Starring: Baraa Alem, Nour Alkhadra, Alanoud Saud
Rating: 3/5
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United: Sharp (45+2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
Company profile
Company: Splintr
Started: May 2019
Founders: Mohammad AlMheiri and Badr AlBadr
Based: Dubai and Riyadh
Sector: payments / FinTech
Size: 10 employees
Initial investment: undisclosed seven-figure sum / pre-seed
Stage: seed
Investors: angel investors
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Age: 30
Position: Senior lab superintendent at Emirates Global Aluminium
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Favourite part of job: The challenge, because it is challenging
Favourite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Gandi
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Uefa Champions League last 16, first leg
Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight, Wednesday, BeIN Sports
