TEHRAN - Winning the Super League is a reward to the amazing supporters of Shahrdari Gorgan, says Behnam Yakhchali, team's captain and an Iran basketball star.

On Thursday, Shahrdari Gorgan won the Iranian Basketball Super League (IBSL) title for the third consecutive time.

The Gorgan based team won the championship by beating Kaleh Mazandaran 81-79 in the best of three, securing a 2-0 victory. Shahrdari had defeated Kaleh 73-58 in their first match on Monday.

“Our fans were with us every step of the way during 10 months,” said Yakhcahli to the Tehran Times.

“Whether we were in Gorgan or other cities, our fans always stood by us and provided their unwavering support.

“In the past years, I played with other teams in Gorgan city and had a feel of the venue's atmosphere. However, this season, I had the privilege of playing for the city's team and felt the immense support from the people which touched my heart,” Yakhchali added.

“We faced tough competition from Kaleh, a strong and youthful team, but we never surrendered and fought until the end to become champions. Despite the heavy atmosphere, we managed to win the match, luckily,” referring to Kaleh, their opponents in the IBSL final match, the captain of Shahrdari Gorgan team stated said.

He explained his plans for the future when asked if he would stay with Shahrdari Gorgan.  

“We're taking part in the significant Asian Clubs Championship in Dubai. I'm hopeful we will achieve an excellent result there. After the tournament, we'll figure out what to do about the contract issues,” Yakhchali concluded.