By ALLON SINAI
The Israeli basketball season officially gets underway on Sunday night with the Winner Cup quarterfinals at the Malha Arena.
The top eight finishers in the BSL last season will take part in the warm-up event, which is being played for a fourth straight year.
The first two quarterfinals will be played on Sunday, with Maccabi Haifa facing Ironi Nahariya and Hapoel Jerusalem meeting Hapoel Holon.
On Monday, Hapoel Galil/Gilboa plays Bnei Hasharon and Maccabi Tel Aviv faces Ironi Ashkelon. The semifinals will be played on Wednesday, with the final to take place on Thursday.
Tel Aviv returned to Israel on Friday after winning all five of its preseason games in its training camp in France and Germany.
"Everyone worked very hard in the camp and we improved our fitness levels and coordination," assistant coach Sharon Drucker said.
"We are looking forward to the Winner Cup. We want and need to win it."