AN exciting new national basketball season is on the cards as the 2018/2019 Zain Bahrain League tips off tomorrow.
A number of the country’s best players have signed with new clubs, making for a significant shift in the balance of power amongst the kingdom’s leading teams.
Five-time defending champions Manama will be gunning for an unprecedented sixth successive national crown, but they will face a serious challenge from the likes of Riffa and Muharraq, with Riffa getting a major boost to their roster and Muharraq maintaining their position amongst the elite in the 13-team league.
Manama have had a mixed summer, with the talented duo of siblings Mohammed and Younes Kuwayed both taking their skills to Riffa. But even after losing the pair, they gained another outstanding player in Hussain Shaker, who signed from Al Ahli.
The Kuwayed brothers were not the only big signings of Riffa this off-season. Last year’s semi-finalists also manage to take on power forward Subah Hussain, who also came from Ahli.
Finalists
Ahli were last season’s losing finalists.
Manama made a clean sweep of last year’s competitions on the local basketball scene, winning not only the league title but also the prestigious Khalifa bin Salman Cup and the Zain Super Cup.
They repeated their Zain Super Cup success last week after beating Muharraq 72-66 in the one-off contest.
Expected to make a serious push to the join Manama, Riffa and Muharraq as top contenders are Al Hala and Nuwaidrat; while expected to be in the middle of the table are teams such as Al Najma and Al Ettihad. Completing the league line-up are Ahli, Bahrain Club, Isa Town, Sitra, Samaheej and Hidd.
Each team will be fielding one professional player.
Tomorrow’s opening night of league action at Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam will feature two games. The first is at 6pm and it will see champions Manama take on Al Najma, followed at 7.45pm by contenders Riffa going head to head with Sitra.
The season will continue until either April or May next year.