Ismail_Ahmad_(basketball) References

Ismail Ahmad
إسماعيل أحمد
No. 1 – Al Riyadi Club Beirut
Position	Power forward / center
League	Lebanese Basketball League
Personal information
Born	September 23, 1976 (age 47); Alexandria, Egypt
Nationality	Egyptian / Lebanese
Listed height	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight	244 lb (111 kg)
Career information
Playing career	1993–present
Career history
1993–1997	Al Ittihad Alexandria
1999	Hekmeh BC
2000–2001	Al Riyadi Beirut
2001–2003	Al Ittihad
2003–2004	Champville SC
2004–2017	Al Riyadi Beirut
2017–2018	Homenetmen
2018–2020	Al Riyadi Beirut
2020–2022	Al Ittihad Alexandria
2022–present	Al Riyadi Beirut
Men's basketball
Representing Egypt
FIBA Africa Championship

Ismail Ahmed Abdelmoneim ( Arabic: إسماعيل أحمد عبد المنعم; born September 23, 1976), also known as Somaa, is an Egyptian-Lebanese professional basketball player for Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League.^[1] He was a main member of the Egypt national basketball team that participated in the FIBA Africa Championship 2001 in Casablanca in Morocco and in the FIBA Africa Championship 2003 that took place in Alexandria, Egypt. He is nicknamed "The Egyptian Pharaoh".

Career

Ahmad began his professional career in 1993, when he was 17 and made his debut on Al Ittihad Alexandria of the Egyptian Basketball Super League. In 1996, he traveled to Lebanon to participate in the Arab Club Basketball Championship. He led the team to the championship beating Lebanese Sagesse Beirut.

He was loaned from Wardia to play with Sagesse Beirut in the Arab Club Championship in 1998. Ahmad played a historic role in the team title scoring 21 points in the final.^{[
citation needed]} He was the second player with an Arab surname and the first with the Lebanese team.

After the Rosary, he played in 1999 under the leadership of the Egyptian coach Azmi Sharif before returning to Egypt to play with Ittihad. He then returned to Lebanon from Champville gate in 2002. In the summer of 2002, Ahmad went to the United States to play for the Houston Rockets in the NBA Summer League, and then the Miami Heat the following year.

On September 22, 2017, he signed with Homenetmen. After one season, he returned to Al Riyadi where he stayed for two more seasons.

In January 2020, Ahmad returned to Al Ittihad Alexandria after 13 years. In his first season he won the 2019–20 Egyptian Basketball Super League and was named the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ahmad also won two Egyptian Cups (in 2020 and 2021) with the team. After the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ahmad agreed to a 50% salary cut with Ittihad.^[2]

On May 17, 2022, Ahmad joined Al Riyadi Beirut for the final stage of the Lebanese Basketball League.^[3]

National team career

Ahmad has represented the Egypt national basketball team and has won the African Games three times. He also won three bronze medals at the FIBA AfroBasket tournaments.