SAMOKOV (Bulgaria) - From September 19-25, our eyes will be focused on Samokov, Bulgaria, where the Basketball Champions League Qualification Round Tournaments will take place.
Three tournaments will be played in single-game elimination formats, from the Quarter-Finals to the Final, and the three tournament winners will join the 29 teams already in the Regular Season.
Who is there?
Entering the season as reigning Bulgarian champions, Rilski Sportist will welcome everybody to Samokov, going up against an early favorite Kalev/Cramo in the Quarter-Finals.
The 15-time Estonian champions already faced them in last season's FIBA Europe Cup, winning both encounters in the Group Phase.
In this Qualification Round Tournament, national champions from Slovakia (Patrioti Levice), Cyprus (Petrolina AEK Larnaca), Denmark (Bakken Bears Aarhus), Georgia (Kutaisi 2010), the Netherlands (Heroes Den Bosch), and Kosovo (Trepca) will be featured as well.
Have they played BCL before?
Two teams out of this QRT have participated in the Basketball Champions League before: Kalev/Cramo in 2021-22 and Bakken Bears, across three seasons (2016-17, 2020-21, 2022-23).
Potential Cinderella story
After successful campaigns in Antalya, the Basketball Champions League Qualification Round Tournaments moved to Samokov, where Rilski Sportist would be even more inspired to write the club's history.
The Bulgarian champions have never qualified for the Regular Season, and will go up against Kalev/Cramo in a difficult Quarter-Final matchup.
However, they can also count on Jalen Thomas, who spent the 2024-25 season in the G-League between Windy City Bulls and Stockton Kings.
One to watch
Joining the team with the difficult task of replacing Terrence Hargrove Jr, who earned a spot in the NBA Summer League after shining in Denmark last year, Bakken Bears' new forward Tymu Chenery is definitely one to watch.
Before moving overseas, the 25-year-old led Binghamton University with 14.2 points per game, spending 35.6 minutes on the court on average.
Out of 32 games, he concluded 26 of them in double digits.
When, where?
All games will be played in Samokov, Bulgaria, live on BCL's broadcast partners, and on YouTube (geo-restrictions may apply).
You can find the full schedule here.
The winner of QRT1 (Champions Path) will join AEK Betsson BC (GRE), VEF Riga (LAT) and NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz (HUN) in Group F of the Regular Season.