BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S youth basketball national team arrived yesterday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to participate in the Fiba U16 Asia Cup 2025, which tips off on Sunday.
The kingdom’s delegation in the Mongolian capital is headed by Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) board member and financial secretary Mohammed Abdulsamad. The nationals are coached by Tunisian tactician Racem Marzougui, who has a 12-player roster in the event.
The recently crowned Arab and Gulf champions are participating in the 16-team tournament as one of two squads representing the Gulf Basketball Association (GBA).
The nationals secured their spot in the continental competition after being crowned champions of the Fiba U16 Asia Cup GBA Qualifiers 2025, held in the kingdom in July. They then added to that title by securing the crown in the 22nd U16 Arab Basketball Championship for Youth in Cairo, Egypt, which concluded just last week.
Bahrain are in Group A for the tournament’s preliminary round alongside Australia, Lebanon, and India. Group B is composed of New Zealand, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and Indonesia; Group C features China, South Korea, Malaysia, and hosts Mongolia; and Group D comprises Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia, who are the other GBA side to have qualified.
The Fiba U16 Asia Cup 2025, which is in its eighth edition, also acts as a qualifier for the Fiba U17 Basketball World Cup 2026, which will be held in Türkiye. The top four teams from Ulaanbaatar will earn their berths in Istanbul.
Bahrain are playing for the sixth time and for the third straight tournament. Their best finish was an impressive eighth in the 2013 event in Tehran, while they were 15th in the 2023 competition in Doha, Qatar.
&uuid=(email))