World-renowned athletes and teams that have made names for themselves in volleyball, basketball and athletics will compete in the Gloria Cup 2019 in August and September. A press conference was held by Gloria Sports Arena’s CEO Elif Özdemir and the Federation Presidents at Turkish Sports Writers Association before the tournaments kick off at Gloria Sports Arena.
Gloria Sports Arena (GSA) in Belek, Antalya which is the most comprehensive sports hotel in Europe, provides the opportunity to do sports in more than 50 branches and is currently preparing to host the third of the annual Gloria Cup. Organized by Smart Casual Event, “Gloria Cup 2019” will bring together the world-renown sportspeople from three branches: volleyball, basketball and athleticism.
A press
conference was held at the Turkish Sports Writers Association prior to the
tournaments, which will start on 15th August. President of Turkish Basketball
Federation Hidayet Türkoğlu, President of Turkish Volleyball Federation Mehmet
Akif Üstündağ, President of Turkish Athleticism Federation Fatih Çintimar and
General Manager of Smart Casual Event Mert Osman Can, as well as the most
important representatives of sporting press participated in the conference
hosted by Gloria Sports Arena’s CEO Elif Özdemir.
Having
opened the conference with a speech, Elif Özdemir thanked the presidents of
federations, Smart Casual Event and members of press. Özdemir said in her
speech, “Five years ago,when my family and I were dreaming of Gloria Sports
Arena, I was 24 years old. From that day, my team and I have hosted thousands
of sportspeople and hundreds of teams from Turkey and around the world. We are
aiming to show everyone that the values we learn from sports and fair-play,
such as discipline, honesty, teamwork can always be sustained. With the
participation of world-famous teams and sportspeople, we have witnessed breathtaking
competitions in volleyball, basketball and athleticism, and received very good
feedback. Supported by the feedback we received from the spectators and
participants, we are here again this year with tournaments that will represent
our country in the best way. With Gloria Sports Arena, we are currently holding
the title of the most comprehensive sports hotel in Europe. Offering an
unparalleled experience to the teams and sportspeople is our aim. However, our
priority is to support the development of Turkish sportspeople and promote
sports in Turkey. Personally my biggest dream is to have people around the
world see that Turkey is hosting the sports competition they are watching on
TV. I believe that investing into not only sports facilities but also
sportspeople and trainers plays a vital role in our efforts to realize our
dream of having the Olympic games in our country.”
Hidayet
Türkoğlu, who took to the platform after Elif Özdemir, talked about the
importance of the role Gloria Sports Arena is playing, and added, “Gloria means
a lot to my family and me. We feel at home here. Gloria Sports Arena is the top
sports facility in Europe. I hope that in the future, we will have more
facilities like this in our country. We are very proud to stand before you as
the most successful sports federations of the nation. We would like you to know
that these three federations are more than able to carry the torch further in
the international sports arena. We are all working towards this goal around the
clock. This year, we will have the Gloria Cup 2019 Basketball tournament on
11-15th September. I hope it will be an enjoyable organization for everyone and
all participants complete the cup without injuries.
President
of Turkish Volleyball Federation Mehmet Akif Üstündağ too spoke at the event.
Üstündağ informed the audience that Turkey, Croatia, Italy and Serbia will vie
for championship at Gloria Cup 2019 Volleyball - Women’s National Teams
Tournament on 15-17th August. He added, “We do not consider any ranking out of
top three a success. We always aim higher. Gloria Sports Arena is of great
importance for us. We organize a camp here every year. Sportspeople who will go
into sports history will be trained here. Today, we are competing in China for
the elimination round of the Olympic Games. Our program is very busy. We will
be together at GSA on 15-17th August for the final tournaments before the
European Championship Cup. I would like to take this opportunity to thank
everyone who worked for this organization.”
Regarded as
one of the most important preparation tournaments for all teams, Gloria Cup
Athletics will take place on 16 September 2019 as part of Gloria Cup 2019. President of Turkish Athleticism Federation
Fatih Çintimar stated that 24 Turkish and 56 foreign sportspeople from 25
countries will participate in the tournament. Çintimar added, “Having one of
the top three federations in Gloria Cup 2019 is gratifying. Gloria Sports Arena
is the best sports camp in the world. Our athletes will be travelling to Doha
after Gloria Cup tournaments. This is going to prepare them very well to Doha.”
The last
speaker of the day, General Manager of Smart Casual Event Mert Osman Can said,
“Smart Casual Event has hosted over 43 basketball teams; 11 volleyball teams,
four of which being nationals; various youth setup teams and countless
sportspeople from a diverse range of disciplines since the opening of Gloria
Sports Arena. At the end of this year, we will have held 19 tournaments in
total. That GSA is a center of attraction for the world of sports is the most
important reason why we managed to reach these impressive numbers in such a
short time. This year, we are kicking off with Gloria Cup Volleyball Tournament
on 15th August. We aim to realize the projects we have been dreaming of. What
makes an organization good is the people who are involved in it. Therefore, I
would like to thank everyone who touched our lives at Gloria Cup.”
The press
conference drew to a close following the Q&A session and photo-shooting.
TOURNAMENT CALENDAR
Gloria Cup
2019 Volleyball / Women’s National Teams Tournament / 15-17th August 2019
Participants:
Turkey - Croatia - Italy - Serbia
Program:
Day 2:
16.08.2019 // Game #1 - 16:30 - Croatia & Serbia // Game #2 - 19:00 -
Turkey & Italy
Day 3:
17.08.2019 // Game #1 - 14:30 - Turkey & Serbia // Game #2 - 17:00 - Italy
& Serbia // 19:00 Award Ceremony
Gloria Cup
2019 Basketball / Men’s Club Teams Tournament / 11-15 September 2019
Participants:
A.Efes (Turkey), CSKA Moskova (Russia), Galatasaray Doğa Sigorta (Turkey),
Teksüt Bandırma Basket (Turkey), Tofaş (Turkey), Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania)
Program:
Day 1:
11.09.2019-Wednesday // Game #1 – 17:30 TOFAŞ- TEKSÜT BANDIRMA // Game #2 -
20.00 ANADOLU EFES-Zalgiris Kaunas
Day 2:
12.09.2019-Thursday // Game #1– 17:30 –CSKA Moskova -TOFAŞ / Game #2 - 20.00
Zalgiris Kaunas - Galatasaray Doğa Sigorta
Day 3:
13.09.2019-Friday // Game #1 – 17:30 TEKSÜT BANDIRMA -CSKA Moskova // Game #2 - 20.00 – Galatasaray Doğa
Sigorta - ANADOLU EFES
Day 4:
15.09.2019-Sunday // Game #1 – 13:30 – 5th Place Playoff // Game #2 - 16:00 –
3rd Place Playoff // Game #3 - 18:30 – Finale // 20:30 Award Ceremony
Gloria Cup
2019 Athletics / 16 September 2019
Participants:
24 Turkish & 56 foreign sportspeople from 25 countries
Games: 16.09.2019-Monday // 19:00 Javelin Throw (M), 19:15 Pole Vaulting (F), 19:55 400m Hurdle (M), 20:00 Triple Jump (M), 20:10 400m Hurdle (F), 20:25 100m Hurdle (F), 20:30 Javelin Throw (F), 20:40 400m (M), 20:55 100m (F), 21:05 200m (M) // 21:10 Award Ceremony