Deloitte defends Consulting Basketball Cup title in Dubai

The latest edition of the Consulting Basketball Cup has seen players from ten of the region’s leading management consultancies compete for bragging rights, with Deloitte ultimately defending its title.

A team from Deloitte has taken out this year’s Consulting Basketball Cup in Dubai after an extended campaign which saw players from the region’s leading management consulting firms battle it out on court over the space of several weeks.

Deloitte defeated Strategy& and inaugural champions McKinsey & Company in the knock-out stages en route to the final, where it overcame Big Four rivals PwC to claim back-to-back titles.

Launched in 2019 as a one-day tournament aimed at fostering closer ties between the region’s young strategists, the Consulting Basketball Cup (CBC) for his edition expanded to a multi-round format under current organisers Jacopo Bonafe and Nady Hachem of Boston Consulting Group and Roland Berger’s Natalia Wehbi. Other teams competing this time round included Bain & Company, Delta Partners, Oliver Wyman and Arthur D. Little.

Keen to back up on last season, Deloitte came flying out of the blocks in the group stages, posting a 51 – 34 win in its first outing over one-time powerhouse Roland Berger (the CBC was originally conceived by former professional basketballers and Roland Berger pair Mohamed El Kurdi and Karim Tabaja, the latter who now works for City Football Group). PwC likewise posted a big round one win, downing Oliver Wyman 67 – 38.

PwC would however struggle over the remaining rounds, going down to McKinsey and in-house rivals Strategy& in consecutive matches before bouncing back at the business end with knock-out wins over Roland Berger and a closely-fought tussle with Boston Consulting Group to make the final.

Deloitte meanwhile flexed its muscle with a huge 83 – 28 quarterfinal win over McKinsey, before edging Strategy& 55 – 52 in the second semi to reach the title match.

In a see-sawing affair – which would see PwC go up by as many as 12 points in the third stanza – Deloitte would ultimately bring it home in the last to triumph 63 – 54 and claim their second consecutive cup, led by a 44 point contribution from George Abou Khalil and Houssam Mikati – both who were playing against their former company. Abed El Or was meanwhile PwC’s top scorer, adding 30 individual points.

“Our final game with PwC was a showdown. We came as reigning champions and we were determined to defend our title,” said team manager Karim Ayyad, with Deloitte captain Nadim El Hassan adding; “I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the chance to represent Deloitte alongside such an exceptional group of guys. The brotherhood, unity, and shared passion within our team really were what put us on top of this tournament.”