These days has been played the 15th International Tournament for U18 teams of Tenerife. This tournament can be regarded as preparation for the two major U18 meetings in the upcoming days, Stella Azzura in Rome and Hospitalet in Spain. As these two tournament are qualifying rounds for the Nike International Junior Tournaments, the major squads that are participating were also present in Tenerife in order to see what the level is.

The Tournament has been won by Pamesa Valencia who destroyed Olimpija Ljubljana in the final 81-50. Pamesa saw the emergence of the 1991 born Georgian forward Tornike “Toko” Shengelia who has already seen minutes with the Senior NT of his home-country. Olimpija Ljubljana came to Tenerife to win the tournament but a disappointing performance in the Finals was keeping them away from the first position. However, with the addition of Mirza Sarajlija who was still with the professional team, the Slovenian team looks like one of the main favorites for the Stella Azzura Tournament in Rome.

The third place went to FC Barcelona around U18 National team candidate Jordi Mas and the 1992 born Joan Creus and Michel Acosta. They defeated the home team of Unelco Endesa Tenerife which was lead by the tournament MVP, top scorer and top rebounder Pedro Farina. The further places went to Real Madrid, Estudiantes Madrid, the Cadets Selection of the Canarian Islands and CB Canaria.

The upcoming tournaments in Rome and Hospitalet will be decisive for the first 4 spots in the Nike International Junior Tournament in Berlin. I will be covering the Stella Azzura Tournament live from Rome this Sunday and Monday.

Another interesting tournament will be played from 28th to 30th December in Onil/Spain where four U18 National teams will meet (Spain, Turkey, Slovenia and a 4th team to be confirmed). Slovenia will play without their main players as they are with Olimpija Ljubljana active in Rome. You can find their roster here. The Spanish team looks decent with players like Josep Franch or Joan Tomas from DKV Joventut.