BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN bagged the bronze medals yesterday in the 44th William Jones Cup, which came to a close in Chinese Taipei.
The kingdom’s senior men’s basketball national team were not in action on the concluding day of play at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, having already completed their eight-game schedule on Saturday with six wins and two losses.
Their victories came against the national development teams of Japan and Chinese Taipei, the senior men’s national teams of Malaysia and the UAE, Australia United, and the Qatar B team. Their losses were to Chinese Taipei’s senior men’s squad and eventual back-to-back champions Strong Group Athletics from the Philippines.
The Filipinos wrapped up their campaign yesterday with an 87-62 triumph over the UAE to finish the tournament undefeated and take the gold medals. In other games, Chinese Taipei clinched silver after beating Japan’s development team 83-58, while Malaysia beat Qatar’s B side 73-52 and Australia United edged past Chinese Taipei’s development squad 86-83.
Following all the games, the top three teams were presented their respective awards in the closing ceremony and prize presentation. Joining Bahrain’s national team members at the event was Bahrain Basketball Association president Alaa Mudara.
The Bahrainis competed in this year’s William Jones Cup with a squad that included Mustafa Hussain, Ahmed Salman, JaKarr Sampson, Wayne Chism, Mohammed Ameer, Subah Hussain, Ali Jaber, Mohammed Buallay, Ahmed Bindayneh, Mahmood Abbas, Ali Hussain, and Abdulqader Thani. They were coached by Greek tactician Georgios Vovoras, who took charge of the nationals for the first time since his signing.
The nationals are now set to shift their focus to the 26th Arab Men’s Basketball Championship, which is set to be hosted by the kingdom for the first time in its history from Friday to August 2.
The Bahrainis will be amongst seven national teams hitting the hardwood at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town. The others are defending champions Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Tunisia, and Algeria.
The Arab Basketball Confederation (ABC) and the BBA are scheduled to hold the tournament draw today.
Bahrain’s last participation in the Arab Men’s Basketball Championship was in the 2018 edition held in Cairo. Their best-ever finish was in the year prior, also at the Egyptian capital, when they captured the bronze medals to join gold-medallists Egypt and silver-medal winners Morocco on the podium. It was Bahrain’s first and only medal in their tournament appearances.
Vovoras is expected to have generally the same line-up from the William Jones Cup.
Bahrain’s hosting of the Arab Men’s Basketball Championship follows the kingdom’s successful staging of the Gulf Basketball Association Championship for National Teams 2024 last September, when they made history and won the crown for the first time.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))