Fil-Greek star reaches out

In yesterday’s column, we asked the question “Who is Lolita Lymoura?” in reference to the Fil-Greek star who was described by Olympiakos player development coach Mike Kalavros in a recent web seminar as a legend in Greek women’s basketball. What we initially found out about Lymoura was only the information available in the internet.

We tried to contact Lymoura through her social media accounts and last night, she reached out. Lymoura, 35, confirmed she is half-Filipina, half-Greek, a mainstay on the Greek national women’s team from 2003 to 2018 and an active player with the Greek Pro-A club PAOK Thessalonikis, averaging 11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 35.7 minutes in 15 games this season where she posted two triple doubles before its suspension because of the pandemic.

Lymoura said her mother Josie Quisayang was born in Manila and grew up in Bagong Pook, Rosario, Batangas. Her Greek father Nikolaos died of cancer 12 years ago. She’s one of four children and the only basketball player. A brother died in 2002. Lymoura visited the Philippines only once, in 2005 for 45 days. Her first name is Iouliti but she’s known as Lolita, her Filipina grandmother’s name. 

“I’m Greek but my blood comes from the Philippines,” said Lymoura. “I love the Philippines and the people. Many times, my mother cooks Filipino food. I know many things about the tradition of this beautiful country. I like pan de sal a lot and siopao with beef. I love fried rice with shrimps and vegetables. Of course, also pansit. Regarding the Philippine national team, I know they’re trying year by year to be better. The players I remember are Andray Blatche and a guard with pigtails. I also like Jimmy Alapag. In women’s basketball, I don’t know anything about the Philippine team. I would like to go to the Philippines if there is a chance to cooperate with Philippine basketball.”

Last year, Lymoura and her mother went to Crete to cheer for the Philippine team at the FIBA U19 World Cup. They had pictures taken with players AJ Edu, Dave Ildefonso, Geo Chiu and Migs Oczon. Philippine women’s national team coach Pat Aquino said it would be a welcome development if Lymoura could come over. “She’s a veteran who can teach and we can learn a lot from her,” he said. “I’ll ask SBP about it.”

Lymoura stands 5-11 and got her height from her father who was 6-1. Her mother is 5-5. “I played in five European championships and two FIBA World Cups,” she said. “My best was in 2010 because it was my first World Cup and we played against USA. I played 163 games with the Greek national team but last year, I decided to stop. I’m still playing in the Pro-A division of the Greek league.”

Lymoura said she’s happy that Kalavros mentioned her name during the webinar. “Coach Mike’s a really nice professional and I worked out with him,” said Lymoura who is divorced and has lived with her boyfriend, a journalist, in Athens the last eight years. “At the moment, nobody’s playing basketball in Greece. We’ve been at home the last 45 days because of the pandemic but I’m trying to work out and keep in shape. I hope that good days will be coming. In Greece, the situation isn’t as bad as in other countries. We’ve worked very hard to keep our (COVID-19) numbers low.”