CHARLOTTE (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - As club competitions wound to an end this past weekend, national team play continues to ramp up for the summer slate that will peak with the IWBF World Championships in Hamburg this coming August.

The last few days saw the culmination of European and Canadian club seasons and a variety of national teams vying for the Fazza International Championship trophy in Dubai.

Speaking of Hamburg, the German city warmed up by hosting the IWBF Europe Champions League final four. In Saturday's championship match, RSB Thuringia once again showed why they have been the class of Europe over the past two seasons, leaving few questions unanswered in a 74-39 trouncing of Spanish side CD Ilunion.

Championship game video here.  

It's the first European title for Thuringia. To get to the final, they had to beat six-time Champions Cup holders and German League rivals RSV Lahn-Dill. Even though the Bulls have been the best in Germany the past two seasons, the Champions Cup final has been Lahn-Dill's regular spring break holiday, making the final game 10 times in the last 15 years.

The RSB Thuringia Bulls are the best of Europe for 2018. Photo by Uli Gasper, courtesy of DRS Fachbereich Rollstuhlbasketball.

The new kinder on the block then had to scale the two-time defending champions from Madrid to be the first team not named Ilunion, Lahn-Dill or Galatasaray to hoist the trophy since 2007. Thuringia was paced by American duo, Matt Scott (25 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists) and Jake Williams (22 points). Aliaksandr Halouski added 15 points and 5 steals. Terry Bywater led Ilunion with 14 points.

Italian side Unipol Sai Briantea84 Cantú relegated Lahn-Dill to fourth place, taking third with a 72-64 win.

Just over 4270 miles (6873 km) to the west, on Sunday, the defending champion Gladiateurs de Laval – still one of my favorite team names - rolled over Team B.C. for the second straight year in the tier one gold medal match 57-41 at the CWBL national tournament.

David Eng and Cindy Ouellet led the Gladiateurs with 16 points apiece. 

Saskatchewan White took the tier two championship over the Brampton Cruiser Suns 52-31.

Ouellet and Patrick Anderson were named Wheelchair Basketball Canada's Athletes of the Year, both for their contributions to Canada's success in the 2017 IWBF Americas Cup. Canada's women finished first and the men second, both qualifying for the World Championships.

Not one, not two, but three other club championships were decided across Europe with the spoils spread to Turkey, England, and Italy.

Previously known as the André Vergauwen Cup, eight teams embarked to the Euroleague 1 tournament in Bilbao to battle for bragging rights.

Action between Bidaideak Bilbao BSR and Oldham Owls

Hosts Bidaideak Bilbao BSR looked to be the best after beating Turkish side and defending champions Galatasaray S.K. in group play 80-77. That would set up a semifinal of civil war proportions as Galatasaray would face and defeat Istanbul archrivals Beşiktaş RMK Marine 62-51 while Bilbao dispatched Great Britain's Oldham Owls 73-59.

So the final brought a rematch and Galatasaray took home their second consecutive title 73-71.

Full results here. 

The host Sheffield Steelers captured Euroleague 2 honors (formerly the Willi Brinkmann Cup) beating Gran Canaria 71-60.

Full results here.

SSD Santa Lucia are the IWBF Euroleague 3 champions

The Euroleague 3 (formerly the Challenge Cup) champions are SSD Santa Lucia who toppled Italian league rivals ASD S. Stefano Sport 57-56.

Full results here. 

Just after my last column two weeks back, the NWBA National Tournament saw the New York Rolling Knicks reclaim the title from the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks 72-59 in overtime. 

The win gave David Eng the rare double with both USA and Canadian championship bling.

The NMCSD Wolfpack defeated the Toronto Rollin’ Raptors, 51-25 to become the Adult Division II National Champions. The RHI Pacers beat the  Harrisonburg Cardinals 44-42 for the Division III title.

This past weekend also presented national team action in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

The West Asia Qualifying Tournament for the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games (INAPG 2018), were held in Amman, Jordan. Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia 64-43. The final standings were Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Jordan.

Participating at the 10th Fazza Wheelchair Basketball International Championships in Dubai were Chinese Taipei, Japan, Morocco, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, and the UAE. The competition was hosted once again by the Dubai Club for People of Determination. 

Basketball is everywhere. It is truly an empire on which the sun never sets.

Steve Goldberg

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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