BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN is set to field men’s and women’s teams in the continent’s biggest and most prestigious 3x3 basketball competition later this month.
The kingdom is set to be represented in the qualifying draws of the Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup 2025, set to take place in Singapore from March 26 to 30.
The men’s and women’s Bahraini squads will be looking to earn their places in their respective competition proper.
The men’s team are set to compete in Group A of their qualifying draw alongside Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Guam. They are hoping to emerge as winners from their group, which would then earn them a berth in Pool A of the main tournament along with Mongolia and Singapore.
There are three other groups in men’s qualifying. Group B features the Philippines, South Korea, India, and Macau; Group C is composed of Kazakhstan, Iran, the Maldives, and Papua New Guinea; and Group D comprises Thailand, Turkmenistan, Vietnam, and New Caledonia.
The Group B winners will join Pool B in the main phase where they will play alongside China and Chinese Taipei. Qualifying’s Group C winners will move on to Pool C to join Japan and Australia; and qualifying’s Group D winners will take on New Zealand and Qatar in Pool D of the tournament proper.
On the distaff, Bahrain are also in Group A for women’s qualifying. They will be taking on Malaysia and South Korea in the only three-team group for the chance to be in the main championship. Group B of the qualifiers features Chinese Taipei, India, Hong Kong, and Guam; Group C includes Kazakhstan, Iran, Vietnam, and the Maldives; and Group D is composed of Indonesia, Turkmenistan, Macau, and Papua New Guinea.
The winners of each group earn their places in the tournament proper. The Group A victors will be in Pool A with China and New Zealand; the Group B winners in Pool B with Mongolia and Thailand; from Group C the winners will play in Pool C with Japan and Singapore; and from Group D, the victors will punch their tickets to Pool D alongside Australia and the Philippines.
Both Bahrain’s men’s and women’s teams will get their qualification bids underway on opening day in Singapore.
The national teams’ rosters for this year’s Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup have yet to be finalised, but the kingdom’s talents have already begun their final preparations under Serbian head coach Bogdan Dragovic, who is an experienced former player on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour. He is joined as a coach by Bahraini tactician Murtada Mohamed, who helped guide Bahrain’s women’s team to the title in the Fiba 3x3 Women’s Cup, held as part of the Neom stop of the 2024 Fiba 3x3 World Tour in Saudi Arabia in November of last year.
The Bahrain teams have been hard at work in their practices at the Bahrain Basketball Association Arena in Um Al Hassam.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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