Defending champions Manama will take on Muharraq in the second semi-final of the 2023-24 Fiba West Asia Super League (WASL)-Gulf Region tonight at the Khalifa Sports City Arena, knowing that a win will put them in the sub-zone final.
Manama, who won the inaugural season of the WASL last year, lead the three-game sub-zone semi-final series 1-0 after defeating Muharraq, 86-78, in the first game at the same venue last week.
The WASL defending champions have enjoyed a superb, unbeaten run in the championship’s second season, finishing on top of the four-team Group B table with 12 points after winning all their six games before notching up their seventh win in a row with their victory over Muharraq last Monday.
Muharraq, by contrast, had to take a longer route to the sub-zone semi-finals after finishing second in Group A with nine points from three wins and three losses in six games which meant that they had to face Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai, who finished third in Group B with nine points, in a three-match play-off for the semi-finals.
Once they lost their first play-off game to the UAE club, 97-87, it looked like Muharraq, who made their WASL debut this season, would make their exit without making the semis but the Bahraini club rallied magnificently in their next game to win 116-75 to level the three-game series at one-all.
Muharraq, then, produced another superlative display in the third and final match to triumph, 89-82, and set up their semi-final showdown with Manama.
And, in the first game last week, Muharraq came within a whisker of ending Manama’s unbeaten run this season when they stormed back from a 14-point deficit with just five minutes left on the clock in the final quarter to reduce their opponents’ lead to just six points, at 83-77, with two minutes still left to play.
Unfortunately for Muharraq, Manama managed to hold them off and, now, all the WASL defending champions need to do is to seal victory in the second game to enter their second successive WASL-Gulf Region final.
If Manama do triumph tonight, they could potentially face Kuwait Club, who won the WASL-Gulf region crown last year, in a replay of the best-of-three sub-zone final series.
Of course, Manama gained sweet revenge in the final of the 2022-23 Fiba WASL Final 8 series last June by defeating Kuwait Club, 66-59, in a pulsating final to create history by becoming the first-ever Fiba WASL champions.
Right now, Kuwait Club lead their current three-match Gulf Region semi-final series 1-0 after beating fellow Kuwaiti team, Kazma Club, 101-87, in the first game last Tuesday.
The two Kuwait teams will clash in their second semi-final game tomorrow night at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex in Kuwait City.
The Manama-Muharraq game starts at 10pm tonight.