Wikipedia

Fadi El Khatib

Fadi El Khatib (Arabic: فادي الخطيب; born 1 January 1979),[1] nicknamed the "Lebanese Tiger",[2] and "Abu Jihad" is a Lebanese former professional basketball player. El Khatib played for several teams in the Lebanese Basketball League, and also played abroad in Syria, Ukraine and China. He was also a member of the Lebanon national team that finished runners-up in the FIBA Asia Championship three times, in 2001, 2005 and 2007. El Khatib also participated in the FIBA World Championship in 2002, 2006 and 2010.

Fadi El Khatib
El Khatib as a guest of MTV Lebanon in 2019
Personal information
Born (1979-01-01) 1 January 1979 (age 45)
Shheem, Lebanon
Listed height2.11 m (6 ft 11 in)
Career information
Playing career1997–present
PositionSmall forward
Career history
1997–2004Sagesse
2004–2005Al-Ittihad Aleppo
2005–2006Sagesse
2006–2007Blue Stars
2007–2008Cherkaski Mavpy
2008–2009Al Riyadi Beirut
2009–2010Champville
2010–2011Al Riyadi Beirut
2011–2013Champville
2013–2014Amchit
2014–2015Foshan Long Lions
2015Al Riyadi Beirut
2015–2016Fujian Sturgeons
2016–2017Homenetmen Beirut
2017–2020Champville
2022–2023Sagesse
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Lebanon
FIBA Asia Championship
Silver medal – second place 2001 Shanghai Team
Silver medal – second place 2005 Doha Team
Silver medal – second place 2007 Tokushima Team
William Jones Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Taipei Team
FIBA Asia Challenge
Gold medal – first place 2010 Beirut Team
WABA Championship
Gold medal – first place 2017 Amman Team

Professional career

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El Khatib began playing professionally in 1997, aged 17, at Sagesse, staying with them until 2004.[3] He then moved for one year to Al-Ittihad Aleppo in Syria, before moving back to Sagesse in 2006.[3] With Sagesse, El Khatib won seven Lebanese Basketball League titles, two Arab Club titles, and three FIBA Asia Champions Cup titles.[3]

Throughout his career, El Khatib also played for other Lebanese Basketball League teams such as Al Riyadi Beirut, Champville, Amchit, and Homenetmen Beirut.[3] Between 2015 and 2017, he played in China for Foshan Long Lions and Fujian Sturgeons.[3] El Khatib then returned to Champville in 2017,[3] playing there until his retirement in 2020.[4] In August 2022, El Khatib announced his return to Sagesse Club in a big announcement held in Hotel Le Gabriel Achrafieh in which attended his former coach Ghassan Sarkis and former teammate Elie Mechantaf.[5] He announced his final retirement in May 2023.[6]

National team career

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In 1999, El Khatib made his debut for the Lebanon national team at the 1999 ABC Championship; Lebanon reached the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place.[3] At the 2001 ABC Championship, El Khatib led Lebanon to a second-place finish; he was named to the 2001 FIBA Asia All-Star Five.[3] With the runners-up finish, Lebanon qualified to the 2002 FIBA World Championship; despite Lebanon losing in the first round, El Khatib finished the tournament among the top ten scorers, with an average of 17.6 points per game.[3]

At the 2005 FIBA Asia Championship, El Khatib averaged 23.0 points per game, and helped Lebanon to reach the final; once again, Lebanon qualified to the 2006 FIBA World Championship.[3] He scored 35 points in the opener against Venezuela, and 29 in a 74–73 win against France. Despite the two wins, Lebanon fell short of qualifying to the round of 16.[3] El Khatib led Lebanon to a third runners-up finish at the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship; he averaged 28.4 points per game throughout the tournament, but lost to Iran 74–69 in the final.[3]

El Khatib eventually participated with Lebanon at the Asia Championship in 2009 and at the World Championship in 2010. He would not participate for Lebanon until 2017, playing his last national-team games at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.[3]

Personal life

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In July 2020, El Khatib obtained Turkish citizenship by investment in the country. His son, Jihad El Khatib, joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe in October 2020.[7]

Awards and honours

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Domestic club

International club

National team

References

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  1. ^ "Fadi El Khatib player in Lebanon (LBN)". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
  2. ^ "'Lebanese Tiger ' El Khatib cites the good, and bad from the win over Korea". fiba.basketball. 9 August 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Flojo, Enzo (15 June 2020). "Asian Legends Series: Lebanon's Fadi El Khatib". FIBA. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  4. ^ "فادي الخطيب يعلن اعتزاله كرة السلة نهائيا". arabia.eurosport.com (in Arabic). 25 January 2020. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  5. ^ أحوال (4 August 2022). "فادي الخطيب.. العودة إلى "الحكمة"". أحوال ميديا (in Arabic). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  6. ^ "نجم كرة السلة اللبنانية فادي الخطيب يعلن اعتزاله برسالة مؤثرة" (in Arabic). alaraby.co.uk. 24 May 2023.
  7. ^ "Basket-Ball : Le Libanais Jihad Al-Khattib rejoint le Fenerbahce d'Istanbul". aa.com (in French). 21 October 2020.
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