BASKETBALL – Bahrain's youth basketball national team have left for Belgrade, Serbia to conduct a two-week training camp in preparation for the FIBA U18 Asia Cup GBA Qualifiers.
The Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) event is set to be hosted by Kuwait from July 29 to August 2, with five of the six GCC nations set to compete.
The Bahrainis will be at the Serbian capital until July 26. The delegation is headed by Bahrain Basketball Association national teams committee vice chairman Ali Al Khaja, and includes head coach Rasem Almarzooqi, his coaching staff, and the administrative and support teams.
Eighteen players are currently on the squad, including Ali Mohsen Al Tooq, Hassan Hussain Jameela, Hussain Ali Al Samaheeji, Mujtaba Mahmood Rayyan, Mahdi Essam Hubail, Mohammed Hassan Khalil Naushad, Mohammed Sami Salem, Amir Nasser Qarashi, Salman Abdulla Nassif, Faisal Abdulkarim Al Anzour, Hamad Faisal, Mahmood Ebrahim Hussain, Danyal Mohammed Mousa, Ali Abdulhameed Ali, Sayed Hussain Mohammed Hashem, Hussain Ahmed Madan, Mohammed Khaled Al Anazi and Mohammed Saif Al Maliki. The roster is expected to be trimmed to a final list of 12 for the GBA qualifiers.
The camp is set to include daily practice sessions in the morning and evening, along with tune-up games. Bahrain are in the competition along with Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. The UAE have pulled out from the event.
The nationals begin their campaign against the hosts on the opening night at 7.30pm, and then take on Saudi Arabia the next day at 5pm. The Bahrainis then face-off with Oman on July 31 at 5pm, and following a rest day on August 1, play Qatar on August 2, also at 5pm. All times are Bahrain.
Only the champions and runners-up of this GBA event will book their tickets to the FIBA U18 Asia Cup, scheduled for September in Amman, Jordan. Games are set to take place at Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Indoor Sports Complex.
In the previous edition of the GBA qualifiers held in 2022 in Dubai, the Bahrainis came away with the bronze medals. Despite this, they did not qualify for that year’s FIBA U18 Asia Cup.
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