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A classic European team with a trademark outfit is trying to return to the Eurocup after a long absence. Telekom Baskets Bonn is set to battle Panellinios BC in the Eurocup first qualifying round starting next week with a chance to get back to the competition for the first time since 2005. Bonn, however, took part in each of the first three seasons of the then-called ULEB Cup. Of course, Telekom Baskets Bonn is more than just the team that wears the funky pink uniforms. Even though many thought the club was created outside the former West Germany Republic capital, that is far from the reality.
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Tucked away in north-central Germany is the small 13,000-person town of Quakenbrück, home of the Artland Dragons, one of the biggest surprises of this season's ULEB Cup. In its first experience playing European competition, head coach Chris Fleming's team survived difficult Group H of the regular season and thenclinched a surprise home win over favored Triumph Lyubertsy in the first leg of the Last 32.
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Win or lose in its last regular season game, Czech Republic champion CEZ Basketball Nymburk can already claim unconditional success in its first ULEB Cup season. When Nymburk hosts former ULEB Cup champ Dynamo Moscow on Tuesday, it will be noteworthy for a couple reasons. First, more than 8,000 fans are expected, marking the second time this season that Nymburk breaks the record attendance for a Czech team - club or national - playing before home crowds.
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Just four weeks into its first ULEB Cup, Benetton Fribourg Olympics has already registered what is arguably the biggest European win club history, downing Triumph Lyubertsy of Russia last week for the team's second victory in Group E. It is a fitting start for a team linked to Swiss basketball since the sport arrived in the country. In fact, basketball started in Fribourg in 1935 when Club Athletique de Fribourg was founded.
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A virtually unknown team in Europe just five years ago, Azovmash Mariupol has already registered its first win in the ULEB Cup and is ready to upset some of the major teams in the competition. Basketball has always been a top sport in Mariupol, even when it was not until 1990 that Azovmash became a professional team that a year later joined the third division when the Soviet Union folded and Ukraine became independent.
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In just its second decade of existence, Unics Kazan has gone a long way towards helping Russian basketball return to the forefront of European sports. Though Kazan is some 800 kilometers from Moscow and its traditional Russian basketball powers, CSKA and Dynamo, the club from the capital city of Tatarstan has played a big role in promoting local talent and bringing big names from surrounding countries.
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Siena, located in the middle of Tuscany, is a city full of history and tradition, a place where you breathe a special atmosphere. "Il Palio", a race among 17 horses representing the 17 neighborhoods of the city, has been run since the Middle Ages in the main square, Piazza del Campo, every year on July 2 and August 16.
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