The Adidas Istanbul Cup, the first of two preparatory tournaments ahead of the FIBA 2010 World Basketball Championship, starts Friday.
In addition to Turkey, which will also host the World Championship, Serbia, Iran and New Zealand will also compete at the tournament.
The match between Serbia and New Zealand will open the tournament, while Turkey will take on Iran later on Friday.
The Serbia-New Zealand match starts at 6 p.m., while the Turkey-Iran game begins at 8:30 p.m.
All games will be played at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Ataköy, Istanbul, which will host the knockout matches of the World Championship.
Speaking at a press conference to launch the tournament, Ali Özsoy, secretary general of the Turkish Basketball Federation, or TBF, said, “It will be the first time the Sinan Erdem Dome will be tested at an international level.”
TBF Events Director Emin Balcı agreed and said the tournament would be on the same level of the World Championship in terms of organization.
“It will be important for us to see if there are any improvements in terms of organization,” he added.
For Turkey, this will be an important test, because all three other teams in the Adidas Istanbul Cup will be participants in the World Championship.
“Turkey will be with its full squad at the Adidas Istanbul Cup,” said Harun Erdenay, Turkish team manager and a former basketball star. “We are waiting for Turkish fans to come and support the team.”
The daily tickets, which enable ticket-holders to watch both games, are priced at seven to 22.5 Turkish Liras, while three-day tickets cost 14.5 to 56.5 liras.
Tickets can be purchased via Biletix (www.biletix.com).
All matches will be shown live on NTV Spor.
After the Adidas Istanbul Cup, Turkey will host the Efes Pilsen World Cup in late August.
