BASKETBALL – Bahrain’s senior men’s basketball national team received a hero’s welcome upon their return to the kingdom late on Monday night from their participation in the 44th William Jones Cup in Chinese Taipei.
The Bahrainis were greeted upon touching down at Bahrain International Airport by Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) operations executive director Ahmed Abdulghaffar, Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) secretary general Ahmed Hafiz, and a number of other BOC and BBA officials.
The nationals captured the bronze medals in the prestigious nine-team tournament, joining back-to-back champions Strong Group Athletics from the Philippines and Chinese Taipei’s senior men’s national team on the podium.
The Bahrainis are next set to compete in the 26th Arab Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be hosted by the kingdom and which tips off on Friday. Seven nations from across the region are participating, including Qatar, Algeria, Tunisia, the UAE, Kuwait, defending champions Egypt, and Bahrain.
Bahrain begin their participation on opening night against the Qataris. They then take on the UAE the following evening before facing Tunisia on Sunday. They lock horns with the Egyptians on Tuesday next week, before playing their concluding two fixtures against Algeria and Kuwait on August 1 and 2, respectively.
All of Bahrain’s games are scheduled for 8pm starts. The tournament is to be played at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.
The competition will be played in league format, with the team boasting the best record after a single round-robin emerging as champions.
Bahrain’s hosting of this year’s 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.
The kingdom was awarded the hosting rights following the last-minute withdrawal as hosts of the Federation Tunisienne de Basketball.
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