BASKETBALL – Bahrain began their final preparations leading up to the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad, India.
The kingdom’s youth men’s national squad, who are reigning Arab and Gulf champions in their age group, held a practice session under the supervision of head coach Salman Ramadhan.
The nationals are competing in the 16-team event as heavy underdogs, but will be looking to turn heads against the continent’s best youth players.
The championship, which tips off on Thursday, also acts as a qualifier for the Fiba U19 Basketball World Cup 2027, with the top four booking their berths.
The Bahrainis have a 12-player roster in the tournament, spearheaded by twin towers Somto Patrick Onoduenyi and Hasan Abdulkadir, court general Mahdi Habib Baqer, and versatile forward Mujtaba Mahmood Rayyan.
The rest of the team includes Ali Hussain Mohammed, Hussain Fuad Sharaf, Mohammed Mahmood Farhan, Ali Ayman, Mohammed Adel Abdulla, Ali Khalil Redha, Yousif Yaqoob Meshaei, and Divine Tochukwu Abochi.
Bahrain are in Group B for the preliminary round alongside basketball giants Lebanon and New Zealand, as well as Syria.
Group A features defending champions Australia, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Group C is composed of China, Iran, Qatar, and Sri Lanka, while Group D includes South Korea, Japan, India, and Kazakhstan.
Bahrain open their campaign against their Lebanese counterparts at 2.30pm Thursday.
They then play the Kiwis on Saturday at 11.30am before completing pool play against Syria on Monday next week, also at 2.30pm. All times are Bahrain.
The top teams in each of the four groups after a single round-robin book a direct ticket to the quarter-finals, while the teams finishing second and third in each pool will compete in a play-off round on August 20 to complete the elite eight.
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