Wael Arakji started his career in 2012 with Al-Riyadi Club (Robertus Bodianto/Getty)
Wael Arakji was chosen as the best player in the tournament Asia Cup ball basketOn Sunday, after he contributed to achieving many victories for Lebanon, especially against the Philippines and New Zealand in the group stage, then against China in the quarter-finals, and then in the semi-finals against Jordan, and was the best scorer in the final against Australia by 25 points, despite the loss by a score 73-75.
Wael Araqji was able to bring the Lebanese together, in light of the difficult conditions in the country of the Cedars, whether at the economic, political, or even security levels, after he suffered from the explosion of the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, and he had made a statement that expressed Through him, he expressed his frustration with his countrymen when he said: “We came from a broken and sad country, and we want to make the Lebanese rejoice,” and this is what the Lebanese national team succeeded in doing, waiting to receive him at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.
Wael Arakji, nicknamed “The Terrible”, was born in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on September 4, 1994. He is 193 centimeters tall, and everyone expected him to have an exceptional career since his first appearance.
In 2012, Wael appeared for the first time with the Lebanese national team in the age groups, and contributed to his country occupying seventh place in the AFC U-18 Cup, and there he drew the attention of Slobodan Subotic, who was a coach of the Beirut Sports Club, which is known both Arab and Asian, and indeed his career began at the club level there. .
During his seven seasons with Al-Riyadi, Wael Arakji won the Lebanon Championship on four occasions, the last of which was in 2019, as well as the Asian Basketball Champions title in 2017, which was close to launching towards stardom and playing for an NBA club in 2015. By participating in “NBA Draft”, he was not lucky.
In 2018, Wael played for the Bekong Fly Dragons, and during that five-game period he averaged 16.6 points, and during 2019 he got the chance to play with the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Summer League, an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. For the game there, NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of the usual season squads.
In 2020, Arakji helped Al Shamal Club win the Qatar League, and he started the 2020-2021 season with the same team and contributed to reaching the final of the competition with an average of 26.4 points.
Arakji’s achievements did not stop at this event, as he won the Tunisian League title with the Monastir Sports Federation, and reached the final of the Basketball Africa League with him, but he lost to Zamalek in the final, 76-73.
Arakji then played for the Kuwaiti Jahra Club in 2021, to return on March 6, 2022 to Beirut Club, after an absence from the local league in light of the difficult conditions that his country experienced due to the Corona virus and economic conditions, and he managed with him to win the championship title after outperforming Al-Riyadi in the final.
At the international level, Arakji reached the final of the 2022 Asian Cup in the edition that concluded in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, on Sunday, knowing that he won the gold medal in the Arab Championship held in Dubai, with Lebanon’s victory over Tunisia in the final with a score of 72-69.