Leicester Riders to face Voluntari in BCL qualifiers

By Bradley Gains on July 7, 2022

Image credit: Mansoor Ahmed / ahmedphotos

Leicester Riders will face Romanian side CSO Voluntari in the Basketball Champions League qualifiers after the draw was conducted on Thursday morning.

The one-legged tie is scheduled to take place on 21st September with the location to be determined with six teams in Qualification Group A.

Rob Paternostro’s side return to European competition for the first time in four years having won the domestic treble in the BBL last season.

BREAKING: Riders will face @cso_voluntari in the @BasketballCL Qualifying Rounds opener! pic.twitter.com/80d8GBVsuj

— Leicester Riders (@RidersBball) July 7, 2022

No British side has advanced to the regular season of the BCL with London Lions having been knocked out in the first round of the qualifiers for the previous two years, while the Riders were beaten by Bakken Bears across two legs in 2018.

Should the Riders beat Voluntari in their quarter-final, they will take on top ranked side Tofas in the semi-finals with three wins needed to make the regular season.

Do you like our work?

We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.

We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.

We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.

If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.

We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.

Support Hoopsfix