BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S youth men’s basketball national team wrapped up their preliminary round campaign yesterday in the 31st Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany with a 57-86 loss against Türkiye.
The Bahrainis tried to stay close in the first half and trailed 41-32 heading into the break, but then fell further behind in the third where they scored only four points and faced a 36-60 deficit with only the final frame to play.
They never recovered from there and trailed by as many as 38 points as they suffered their fifth setback in as many games in Group A of the competition’s preliminaries.
The nationals earlier suffered heavy losses against hosts Germany, Sweden, and Slovenia, and came up short against fellow-Asian side Japan in a contest they led by 17 points.
The Bahrainis will now take on another continental heavyweight in China in the game for 11th place – their concluding fixture of the tournament, scheduled to be held today at 2.15pm, Bahrain time.
The Chinese finished in last place in Group B, which also features Brazil, Serbia, New Zealand, Italy, and Latvia.
In yesterday’s contest, big man Hassan Abdulqader paced Bahrain with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Arab youth Most Valuable Player Somto Patrick Onoduenyi added 12 points and nine boards. Yousif Yaqoob Meshael had 10 points as their only other player in double figures.
Omer Alp Elitas was Türkiye’s top performer with 19 points, while Kartal Bora Simsek contributed 16 and Kerem Sertakar added 15 as they had five players in double digits.
Along with a series of classification games, the tournament’s semi-finals are scheduled to be held today. They will set the stage for the gold and bronze medal contests tomorrow, as well as final ranking fixtures as part of the event’s concluding day of action.
Bahrain are playing in Germany as part of their preparations for the Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) qualifiers for the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026.
The nationals were bronze-medallists from the previous GBA U18 qualification event in 2024, but missed out on a place in the continental showcase. They will be looking to change that this year and punch their tickets to the Fiba Asia tournament, which is set to be hosted by Doha.
Sixteen teams will make it to the championship, and the nationals will be looking to claim their place for the seventh time – with their last appearance in the 2018 edition in Thailand.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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