Euroleague Final Four kicks off in London

London will host 2013 Euroleague Final Four beginning May 10, as teams prepare for the final round of match-ups that will see the best basketball teams in Europe go head to head for the championship trophy. An award ceremony and press conference were held on Thursday before the start of the tournament, bringing together leading players, coaches, as well as organizers and sponsors of Euroleague. Vassilis Spanoulis, playmaker for last year's champions Olympiakos was awarded the league's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award at the ceremony before the press conference. "It is always tough when you won the previous year," Spanoulis said. "Our motivation is high, we are a good team." Juan Carlos Navarro of Barcelona said their draw with compatriot Real Madrid was not a source of worry, "but this is a league where there are really formidable teams, so we will fight hard," he said. Euroleague sponsor Turkish Airlines' (THY) general manager Temel Kotil said his company was honored to sponsor the organization and that they hoped Europe would become the world leader in basketball. THY Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu said he was excited to be in London, adding he expected the finals this year to be more challenging than ever. Source: Anadolu Agency