Everything is ready for the Panathinaikos delegation’s departure destined to reach China. It is a trip of historical importance since Panathinaikos is the first ever European basketball team, to be visiting the most populated country on the planet.
It is a trip which will not rest at a simple athletic meeting, but it also branches out to social projects, as is more than obvious from the team’s itinerary during its stay in China and the events it is to take part in.
The delegation is made up by Dimitris Diamantidis, Mike Batiste, James Gist, Gaios Skordilis, Ramel Curry, Nikos Pappas, Vladimiros Jnakovic, Ping Shang, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Giorgos Diamantakos, Giorgos Giouzelis and Giorgos Apostolidis.
Panathinaikos’ schedule in China is as follows (Local time is stated):
Wednesday, September 11
21.50 Departure from the “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport heading to Istanbul
Thursday, September 12
00.40 Departure from Istanbul heading to Guangzhou
16.00 Arrival at Guangzhou and transportation to Foshan where the team’s delegation with be accommodated
Friday, September 13
11.00 Press Conference with the participation of Panathinaikos’ team, representatives of the city and the team of Foshan but also from the Guangdong region.
12.00 Training session open to the public. At the same time, executives from the Foshan Longlions team will be hosting a meal for the executives of Panathinaikos.
19.30 Foshan Longlions-Panathinaikos (friendly game)
Saturday, September 14
Departure from Guangzhou heading to Beijing
16.30 Scheduled arrival in Beijing
Meeting of the Panathinaikos BC Marketing Director, Ilias Katsogiannis, with executives of Chinese companies.
Sunday, September 15
10.30 A delegation made up of Panathinaikos players will be visiting the You Can international school of Beijing and will be giving out gifts from the PAOSHOOP, aiming to interact even closer with the local community.
19.00 Forum where the Panathinaikos team will be presented to official guests from the government and the sports area of China and where its dynamic will be analyzed while there will also be an exchange of opinions on all matters. The event will be hosted at the famous University, Tsinghua.
An open practice of the team will follow in the campus basketball court.
Monday, September 16
A delegation of Panathinaikos will visit Beijing’s “Summer Palace”
In the afternoon the last training session on Chinese soil will be committed.
Tuesday, September 17
00.10 Departure of the delegation from Beijing heading to Istanbul. The team’s arrival at the “Eleftherios Venizelos” airport is expected to be at 09.05.
*China is 5 hours ahead of Greece time-wise.
