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Basketball was My Escape From Syria

Michael Madanly is one of Syria's most famous basketball players. Basketball was once one of the country's top spectator sports and Michael was a household name, playing for the league champions Al Jalaa and the Syrian national team. But when war broke out in 2011, Michael fled the country. He went first to play in the Chinese league and has now moved to the Philippines. He told Matthew Bannister how he discovered basketball as a child growing up in Aleppo.

[Picture: Michael Madanly (Left) in action on the basketball court
Picture credit: Getty Images]

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Duration:

9 minutes