BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN made history yesterday after claiming their first-ever victory in a women’s game at the Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup, being held in Singapore.
The kingdom’s women’s 3x3 basketball national team – comprising Bayan Salman, Shereen Abdulrahman, Noor Najaf, and Nouf Abdulla – won the last of their three games in the 2026 competition’s qualifying draw. They defeated Saudi Arabia 14-9, but earlier lost to Chinese Taipei 4-21 and then to Hong Kong 14-20.
Despite their triumph, the Bahrainis missed out on a place in the tournament proper, which was claimed by Chinese Taipei from their qualification draw C, where Bahrain ranked third.
Meanwhile, the kingdom’s men’s team lost all three of their three games in their qualifiers.
They were first eked out by Hong Kong 14-15 and then they lost to Kazakhstan 16-20 before completing their schedule with a 12-21 defeat to India.
The men – composed of Nasser Al Mosawi, Isa Jassim, Mohammed Ghazwan, and Salman Al Kaabi – finished last in qualifying draw D, topped by India, who marched through to the main round.
With yesterday’s results, Bahrain’s campaign in the continental showcase came to a close.
Games in qualification continue today in the other draws, which will set the stage for the Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup 2026’s main phase, set to feature 12 teams apiece for both the women and men.
In the Bahraini women’s win over their Saudi counterparts yesterday, six unanswered points – two from Salman and four from Abdulrahman – helped the nationals break a 4-all deadlock and take a commanding 10-4 lead.
Salman then gave them a 13-7 cushion with a basket from beyond the arc, and Bahrain never looked back from there. They did well to keep Saudi at bay and allowed their opponents no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Salman finished as the team’s leading scorer with eight points, while Abdulrahman added five and Najaf had one point.
Kawther Ahmed Khayyat paced Saudi in the loss with four points.
Bahrain competed in this year’s Fiba Asia Cup qualifying draws amongst the leading squads from Fiba Asia’s Gulf Basketball Association (GBA). The Bahraini women were silver-medallists at the GBA Championships in Muscat, Oman, held in November of last year, while the men were their tournament’s champions.
The Fiba 3x3 Asia Cup 2026 is marking its ninth edition and the fifth consecutive year that it is being held. Games are being played at Singapore Sports Hub.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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