BASKETBALL – Arab and Gulf champions Bahrain were dealt a humbling 42-86 loss to continental powerhouses New Zealand yesterday in the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026, currently being played in Ahmedabad, India.
After securing an impressive upset against another basketball giant in Lebanon in their opening assignment last week, the kingdom’s youth men’s basketball national team were brought back down to earth at Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium.
They never led against the Kiwis and faced deficits as big as 46 points late on.
Somto Patrick Onoduenyi was the Bahrainis’ lone player in double figures with 16 points and 17 rebounds, while he also registered six blocks.
Frontcourt mate Hassan Abdulkadir added nine markers and eight boards, while no other player scored more than seven points for the nationals.
Cole Hopoi paced New Zealand with 16 points, while Jackson Ball added 15 six Kiwi players were in double digits.
Following their first setback in Group B of the preliminary stage, Bahrain will be looking to bounce back when they play their concluding fixture of this round tomorrow against Syria.
Their contest is scheduled for a 5pm start, Bahrain time.
In other fixtures yesterday, Syria defeated Lebanon 72-64, also in Group B; while in Group A, Australia routed the Philippines 107-69 and Chinese Taipei thrashed Thailand 110-62.
Bahrain are one of 16 youth men’s national teams in this year’s Fiba U18 Asia Cup, which also acts as a qualifier for the Fiba U19 Basketball World Cup 2027, with the top four booking their berths to the worlds.
Group C is composed of China, Iran, Qatar, and Sri Lanka; and Group D includes South Korea, Japan, India, and Kazakhstan.
The top team in each of the four groups after a single round-robin secure 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 Thursday to complete the elite eight, scheduled for the following day.
The semis then take place on August 22, setting the stage for the gold and bronze medal games on August 23.
Classification clashes will also be held on the tournament’s last two days.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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