BASKETBALL – Bahrain's under-16 3x3 basketball team have begun their preparations to compete at the upcoming third Asian Youth Games in the kingdom.
The mega multi-sport event is set to take place under the royal patronage of His Majesty King Hamad from October 22 to 31.
The 3x3 game is one of 24 sports included on the programme.
Six of the kingdom’s rising stars are part of the Bahrain roster, including twin towers Somto Patrick Onoduenyi and Hassan Abdulkadir, Divine Tochukwu Abochi, Ali Hussain Mahdi, Yousif Yaqoob Meshaei, and Hussain Fuad Ghuloom.
They are coached by Serbian Bogdan Dragovic and Bahraini tactician Murtadha Mohammed.
The third Asian Youth Games is set to feature more than 5,000 athletes, both boys and girls aged 14 to 18 years old, representing 45 National Olympic Committees from across Asia.
They will be vying for medals in 24 sports, while also looking to secure qualification for the Youth Olympic Games 2026 in Dakar, Senegal.
Aside from 3x3 basketball, the other sports that will be a part of the exciting multi-day programme are athletics (track and field and cross country), badminton, volleyball (indoor and beach, road cycling, equestrian (endurance and showjumping), futsal, golf, handball, Muay, jiu-jitsu, judo, kabaddi, mixed martial arts, table tennis, E-sports, taekwondo, wrestling (indoor and beach) boxing, triathlon, weightlifting, teqball, swimming, and camel racing.
The Games’ official opening ceremony will take place on October 22 at Exhibition World Bahrain.
The inauguration will be held indoors for the first time, diverging from the traditional outdoor settings of previous editions of the Games, which were held in Singapore in 2009 and China in 2013.
Seven sports will commence prior to the inauguration.
These include boys’ futsal, handball, and volleyball, starting on October 19, followed by girls’ futsal, kabaddi, teqball, and beach volleyball, all beginning on October 21.
The final day of the Games on October 31 will only feature men’s and women’s swimming events and their awards presentation, alongside the official closing ceremony.
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