BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S youth men’s basketball national team bowed to international juggernauts Slovenia 57-112 last night in the 31st Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany.
The Bahrainis fell behind 0-9 in the opening minute-and-a-half of the contest and never recovered. They gave up 18 unanswered points at one stretch, and faced deficits as big as their final 55-point losing margin.
Arab youth Most Valuable Player Somto Patrick Onoduenyi was Bahrain’s top performer with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Frontcourt mate Hassan Abdulqader was their only other player in double figures, chipping in with 17 points and 11 boards.
Slovenia had six players in double digits. Gal Cop was their leading scorer with 20, while Lun Jarc and Martin Cizej added 16 apiece.
The nationals, who are making their debut in the prestigious under-18 competition, suffered their third straight loss against top European opposition, having previously gone down to hosts Germany in their opening clash and then falling to Sweden in their next assignment.
The Bahrainis are Group A of the tournament’s preliminary round. It also features Japan and Türkiye, while Group B is composed of China, Brazil, New Zealand, Latvia, Serbia, and Italy.
The kingdom’s representatives have a rest day today and will be returning to action tomorrow in their penultimate fixture against fellow-Asian side Japan, scheduled for a 2.15pm tip-off. Their final game of the preliminaries will be against their Turkish rivals on Thursday at 2.45pm. Both 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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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