RISING stars Mustafa Hussain and Muzamil Ameer are set to spearhead Bahrain in the Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Qualifier for the 2020 Fiba U18 Asian Championship.
Both players are amongst the most prolific talents in the kingdom at their age-bracket, and they were an integral part of the national team that finished a stunning seventh overall in the previous edition of the under-18 continental competition, held last year in Thailand.
They hope to lead Bahrain back to the prestigious tournament, which will need the home side to finish in first or second place to book their berth.
Bahrain begin their tournament campaign tonight when they take on Kuwait at 8pm at the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Arena in Um Al Hassam.
Mustafa is a combo-guard who is a natural scorer and playmaker. He is a sharp-shooter who can create baskets for both himself and his teammates.
Muzamil is a towering youngster whose skinny frame can be deceiving. He is an offensive force both in the perimeter and in the paint, and is also a quality defender.
Despite being teenagers, both Mustafa and Muzamil play key roles for their clubs at the senior level. Mustafa was also a part of Bahrain’s men’s national team in recent competitions.
Help
In the GBA qualifiers, the pair expect to receive plenty of help from the likes of teammates Ahmed Khalifa, Emran Hasan, Salman Ahmed, Ahmed Ayman, Redha Ali, Basel Adel, Salman Mohamed, Abdulla Saad, Ali Own and Hasan Abduljalil.
The Bahrainis are coached by veteran tactician Salman Ramadhan.
The team held a final practice last night at the tournament venue, conducted by Coach Ramadhan and his staff.
Following their opening fixture today, Bahrain go against Oman tomorrow.
The following day is a rest day, after which Bahrain return to the hardwood on Thursday to lock horns with Qatar. They then take on Saudi Arabia on Friday. Another rest day is on Saturday, which will be followed by their final game day on Sunday when they battle the UAE.
All of Bahrain’s games are scheduled for an 8pm tip-off.
In other fixtures today, Qatar take on Saudi at 4pm and then Oman play the UAE at 6pm.
Prior to the start of play, a pre-tournament technical meeting was held yesterday. All technical matters involving the qualifiers were discussed, and the presentation of each team’s uniforms was also done. Attending the meeting were BBA vice-president Nasser Al Qaseer along with other high-rankling BBA, GBA and team officials.