BASKETBALL – THERE is no time to rest for Bahrain’s basketball champions Manama.
Less than a week after securing their domestic league-and-cup double for the second successive season, the Bahrainis will be defending another title starting Saturday when they play their opening game in the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final Eight. The tournament is set to take place in Doha, Qatar until June 1.
Manama are the overall defending champions of the WASL. They won last season’s inaugural edition as part of an historic treble with the Zain Bahrain Basketball League and Khalifa bin Salman Cup. They will now be hoping to secure the regional crown for a second time, but will need to overcome some of the top basketball clubs from the Gulf as well as from West, Central, and South Asia.
Manama are in Group A for the Final Eight’s preliminary round along with Al Riyadi Beirut and CS Sagesse from Lebanon, and BC Astana from Kazakhstan. Group B features Kuwait Club and Kazma, both from Kuwait, Shahradry Gorgan of Iran, and Tamil Nadu from India.
On Saturday, Manama open their title-defence against Sagesse at 9pm. They are then scheduled to face off with Astana at 6pm on Monday, before completing this opening phase on Wednesday next week against Riyadi at 9pm. All times are Bahrain.
Following the single round-robin group stage, the top two teams from each group will progress to the Final Eight’s semi-finals on May 31, while the third and fourth-placed sides will be eliminated from contention. The semis victors will then compete for the ultimate prize in the one-game final on June 1, which will be preceded by a bronze medal contest the same day.
Manama won the inaugural WASL competition by outlasting Kuwait Club in the decider of last year’s Final Eight, held in Dubai, the UAE.
Aside from contesting for this season’s FIBA WASL title, the two finalists will earn spots in the inaugural Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia), which will be played in Dubai from June 9 to 15. The BCL Asia will feature eight teams in all.
Aside from the top two WASL clubs, the others are Pelita Jaya from Indonesia and the NS Matrix Deers from Malaysia, Korean Basketball League champions Busan KCC Egis, and the champion teams from China, Japan, and the Philippines.
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