PAOK Sports Arena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Palataki | |
 PAOK Sports Arena. |
|
| Location | Pylea, Thessaloniki, Greece |
|---|---|
| Broke ground | March 18, 1990 |
| Opened | 2000 |
| Owner | PAOK BC |
| Capacity | 8,650 |
| Tenants | |
| PAOK BC, PAOK VC | |
PAOK Sports Arena (in Greek: Κλειστό γήπεδο ΠΑΟΚ) is located in Thessaloniki, Greece and it hosts the PAOK BC and PAOK VC departments of PAOK. It was opened in the year 2000 and in the same year it hosted the Euroleague and Greek Cup Final-fours. It is built on land donated by Ioannis Dedeoglou, for which PAOK BC holds an annual tournament in his honor. It has 8,650 seats for fans and guests and has 502 parkings spots. The PAOK volleyball department PAOK VC had to wait until 2002 to begin using the stadium.
Contents |
[edit] Directions to the stadium
The arena is located in the south part of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece 7 km from the centre, in the Pylea borough. The arena lies 300 m off the junction, on a small hill. Access by bus: use any of the lines #69, #72 or #76.
[edit] Construction of PAOK Sports Arena
PAOK BC had to wait 10 years from the laying of the foundation (on March 18, 1990) and 12 years from the time Ioannis Dedeoglou donated the land (June 17, 1988) until the stadium was ready. Ioannis and his brother Thanasis Dedeoglou first began to think about a new major European stadium in Thessaloniki in 1991, by donating the lot to PAOK. A proposal to host the Euroleague Final Four in the new Arena, increased the motivation to complete the stadium. FIBA Europe accepted the offer and the construction was finished in Time. The stadium hosted earlier that year also the Greek Cup Final Four, as its first major event.
[edit] Tournaments held
[edit] First Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament
The first tournament took place in 2004 and four teams competed. They were KK Hemofarm, Panathinaikos BC, PAOK BC, and Ulker. The first games took place on September 24, 2004, in which Panathinaikos won against Hemofarm 83-79 and PAOK beat Ulker 77-57. The very next day Hemofarm vs. Ulker and PAOK vs. Panathinaikos were going to decide who would earn the final positions. Hemofarm beat Ulker 84-74 for its third place finish and PAOK beat Panathinaikos in a close game 79-76 for first place.
[edit] Second Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament
The second tournament was held in September 2005. The teams that participated were AEK, FC Barcelona, Red Star Belgrade, and PAOK. The first day of the tournament fans got to see a Greek derby between PAOK and AEK, which PAOK won 77-72. The next game of the day took place between Barcelona and Red Star, in which Barcelona won 77-67. The following day, AEK was put against Red Star and lost 54-75. The final was a real feast for the eyes, it finished with both teams tied at 87 points; it was a great game in which Barcelona ended up beating PAOK in overtime 102-101.
[edit] Euroleague 2000 Final Four
PAOK Sports Arena hosted the Euroleague Final Four in 2000, during the Euroleague's inaugural year.
[edit] Breakdown of Matches
[edit] Final
- Panathinaikos Athens (GRE) - Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) 73-67
[edit] Third place
FC Barcelona - Efes Pilsen 69-75
[edit] Semi-Finals
- Panathinikos Athens (GRE) - Efes Pilsen (TUR) 81-71
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR) - FC Barcelona (ESP) 65-51
| Preceded by Olympiahalle Munich |
FIBA Euroleague Final Venue 2000 |
Succeeded by Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy Paris |
[edit] Trivia
- The first game that took place inside the stadium was the semifinal game between AEK Athens BC and Amarousio. AEK won and went on to take the Cup
- PAOK player Anatoli Zurbenko that made the first points inside PAOK Sports Arena.
- On March 17, 2000, took place the first game with PAOK, against Panathinaikos BC.
