BASKETBALL – Bahrain take on Saudi Arabia this evening in their opening game of the Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) U18 Championship 2026, which gets underway in Doha, Qatar.
The game is scheduled for a 6pm tip-off and it will be played at Al Gharafa Sports Club Arena in the district of Al Rayyan.
The kingdom’s youth men’s basketball national team wrapped up their final preparations for the tournament yesterday with a team practice under the supervision of head coach Salman Ramadhan.
The GBA event also acts as a qualifier for the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026, to be played in Ahmedabad, India from August 13 to 23.
The top two teams in Doha following a single round-robin will book their tickets to the continental showcase, joining a high-quality field of 16 squads.
Bahrain have a 12-man roster in Doha, spearheaded by star big man Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, the Most Valuable Player at the recently held 23rd Arab Youth Men’s Basketball Championship 2026, and his frontcourt partner Hassan Abdulkadir – forming Bahrain’s dominant twin towers.
The rest of the team list features Mujtaba Mahmood Rayyan, Ali Hussain Mohammed, Mohammed Mahmood, Mohammed Adel Abdulla, Ali Khalil Redha, Hussain Fuad Sharaf, Ali Sadeq Al Haddad, Mahdi Habib Baqer, Yousef Yaqoob Meshaei, and Hussain Ahmed Abdulla.
Following their game today against Saudi, Bahrain next take on Kuwait tomorrow before playing Oman on Monday for their third assignment in as many days.
The nationals then have two days’ rest before going up against the host Qataris on the championship’s concluding day on Thursday.
Bahrain were bronze-medallists from the previous GBA under-18 qualification event held in 2024, but missed out on a place in that year’s Asian competition.
Bahrain are hoping to claim their place in the Fiba Asia tournament for the seventh time – with their last appearance in the 2018 edition held in Thailand.
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