BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S youth men’s basketball national team begin their campaign today in the 31st Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany.
The Bahrainis are set to face off with the host Germans in a tough Group A fixture of the under-18 competition’s preliminary round. It is scheduled for a 9pm tip-off, Bahrain time.
The nationals are taking part for the first time ever in the prestigious event, which features a high-quality field of 12 of the world’s biggest basketball nations – with the others being Serbia, Slovenia, Türkiye, Latvia, Italy, Brazil, Sweden, China, New Zealand, and Japan.
Bahrain and Germany are joined in their division by Sweden, Slovenia, Japan, and Türkiye, while Group B is composed of China, Brazil, New Zealand, Latvia, Serbia, and Italy.
The kingdom’s representatives held their first training session yesterday upon arriving in Germany. It was supervised by senior men’s basketball national team head coach Georgios Vovoras and his assistants, led by Ahmed Abdulaziz.
The Bahrainis have a 14-player roster for the tournament, led by Arab youth Most Valuable Player Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, who is joined by teammates Hassan Abdulqader, Mohammed Farhan, Mohammed Adel, Hussain Madan, Mahdi Habib, Hussain Fouad, Ali Khalil, Ali Ferdowsi, Yousif Yaqoob Meshael, Khalid Mohammed, Ali Hafez, Jock James, and Mujtaba Rayan.
Following their opening assignment today, the Bahrainis next take on their Swedish counterparts tomorrow at 6.15pm. They play their third game against Slovenia on Monday, also at 6.15pm, and then after a rest day the next day, face off with Japan on Wednesday at 2.15pm. Their final game of the preliminary stage will be against their Turkish rivals on Thursday at 2.45pm. All times are Bahrain.
Following group play, the top two teams from each pool will move on to the semi-finals, to be held on Friday next week. The gold and bronze medal games are then set for the event’s concluding day on Saturday.
Classification contests to rank fifth through 12th overall will also be held on the last two days.
Games are being held in the cities of Mannheim and Viernheim.
Bahrain are playing in Germany as part of their preparations for the Gulf Basketball Association qualifiers for the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026, which have yet to be scheduled.
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