BASKETBALL – BAHRAINI basketball star Mohammed Kowayed is set to make history as the first-ever player from the kingdom to compete in the Fiba 3x3 World Tour.
Kowayed is joining Bahrain’s representatives Riffa for the prestigious street basketball series.
Riffa announced yesterday that Kowayed has travelled to Antwerp, Belgium to officially join the team. He is scheduled to make his debut on the Fiba 3x3 World Tour in its Vienna stop, scheduled to be held June 13 to 15 in Austria.
Kowayed is joining the veteran Riffa trio of Dennis Donkor, Jonas Foerts, and Vic Van Oosterwyck in the competition.
Other teams set to play in the event are Ub and Partizan from Serbia, Amsterdam RABOBANK and Utrecht from the Netherlands, Toulouse from France, Miami and London from the US, Raudondvaris from Lithuania, Lausanne from Switzerland, Skyliners and Baskets Bonn from Germany, Hangzhou from China, Barcelona from Spain, and Tel Aviv from Israel.
Kowayed secured his spot on the Riffa squad after being selected by their technical staff following his impressive showing in practice games held in Bahrain earlier this year, according to the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA).
His participation also reflects the BBA’s objective of supporting Bahraini talent on basketball’s international stage.
Kowayed, who played for Manama this past season, will now be going up against some of the top 3x3 basketball players from around the world. He is a dynamic player who can play both guard and forward positions, with supreme athleticism.
Vienna marks the fifth meeting on the 2025 calendar of this year’s Fiba 3x3 World Tour, which is being held under the banner of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba).
The series has already made stops in Japan, China, the Netherlands, and France before the upcoming Austria event. It will then also be holding competitions in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Hong Kong; Edmonton, Canada; Lausanne, Switzerland; Debrecen, Hungary; Shanghai and Shenzhen in China; Macau; Abu Dhabi, the UAE; before heading to Bahrain for the Fiba 3x3 World Tour finale on November 21 and 22.
There are also 20 Challenger tournaments held throughout the season.
This year marks the first time ever that the kingdom will be staging the Fiba 3x3 World Tour curtain-closer, in which this year’s champions will be crowned.
The kingdom hosted the series the past two years, with both events held as the Manama Masters. On each occasion, the competitions took place at a specially built venue at Bahrain Financial Harbour, offering a stunning backdrop to the exciting basketball action, which also included a women’s tournament, a men’s local tournament, a slam dunk contest, and a three-point shootout.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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