Fenerbahçe Beko and Beşiktaş GAİN meet for the first time in the Men’s Presidential Cup on Wednesday at Sinan Erdem Spor Salonu, with tip-off scheduled for 20:30.
The season-opening showdown pits Fenerbahçe, champions of the 2024-25 Turkish Basketball Süper Lig and ING Türkiye Kupası, against Beşiktaş, runners-up in both competitions.
First contested in 1985, the Presidential Cup has long served as a showcase of Turkish basketball supremacy.
Anadolu Efes leads the roll call with 14 titles, while Ülkerspor is the only club to win the trophy five consecutive times.
Fenerbahçe, appearing for the 19th time, has lifted the cup seven times, most recently in 2017 and seeks to end an eight-year drought.
Beşiktaş have one title (2012) and one runner-up finish (1987) in the competition.
Last season, Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş met eight times, including the BSL playoff finals and the Türkiye Kupası final.
Fenerbahçe dominated, winning six games and securing both championship titles, including a 4-1 series victory in the league finals and a 104-81 cup final triumph.
Fenerbahçe claimed their first Presidential Cup in 1989-90, defeating Galatasaray 95-86. Additional titles came in 1990-91, 1993-94, 2006-07, 2012-13, 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Under coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, the Yellow Canaries aim to close the gap on Anadolu Efes and recapture silverware, showcasing their enduring dominance in Turkish basketball.
Beşiktaş, coached by Dusan Alimpijevic, enters with the ambition to claim a second Presidential Cup, which would be their first in 13 years.
The black-and-whites’ sole title came in a narrow 77-75 win over Anadolu Efes in 2012, while their only previous final appearance ended in defeat to Karşıyaka in 1987.
Anadolu Efes remain the most successful club in the competition with 14 trophies and Ülkerspor is the only team to win five consecutive editions.
Other champions include Galatasaray, Pınar Karşıyaka, Türk Telekom, Eczacıbaşı, Çukurova and TOFAŞ.
The Cup was not held in 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to COVID-19 and in 2022-23 because of the Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.
