BASKETBALL – ARAB and Gulf champions Bahrain confirmed their spot last night in the play-off to the quarter-finals for the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026, currently being played in Ahmedabad, India.
The kingdom’s youth men’s basketball national team routed their counterparts from Syria 92-68 to claim their second win in three Group B games at Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium.
The Bahrainis led the entire contest and powered ahead by as many as 31 points late in the final quarter. They were especially dominant in the second half after the Syrians got to within a single point at the interval, thoroughly outscoring their opponents 52-29 in the last two periods.
Bahrain’s twin towers of Somto Patrick Onoduenyi and Hassan Abdulkadir were once again the driving force in their victory. Onoduenyi scored a game-high 26 points while also taking down 14 rebounds and blocking five shots. Abdulkadir chipped in with 21 points and 12 boards to go along with two blocks.
Bahrain’s triumph yesterday followed their win against Lebanon in their opening assignment before a big loss against New Zealand in their second encounter. The nationals, coached by veteran Bahraini tactician Salman Ramadhan, thus finished second in Group B, behind only the Kiwis, who thrashed the Lebanese 113-62 in yesterday’s other divisional clash.
New Zealand punched their direct ticket to the elite eight after finishing the preliminaries undefeated in three games, while Syria, despite two defeats, joined Bahrain in marching through to the play-offs for the quarters.
There, the kingdom’s representatives will face Group A third-placers Chinese Taipei on Thursday, while the Syrians will take on Group A runners-up the Philippines the same day.
Group A winners Australia beat Chinese Taipei 110-58 yesterday to also claim a berth straight in the quarter-finals, while the Philippines ousted Thailand 91-62.
Thursday’s play-off contests will be followed by the round of eight on Friday. The casts for both phases will be confirmed today on the concluding day of the preliminaries. China face Iran and Qatar take on Sri Lanka in Group C, while South Korea battle Japan and hosts India lock horns with Kazakhstan in Group D.
This year’s Fiba U18 Asia Cup also acts as a qualifier for the Fiba U19 Basketball World Cup 2027, with the top four booking their berths to the worlds.
In Bahrain’s victory last night, they took a quick 14-5 lead midway through the first quarter and built a commanding 29-15 cushion heading into the second. But the Syrians roared back, outscoring the Bahrainis 24-11 to get to within 39-40 at the break.
The nationals regained total control after the re-start, going on a game-changing 17-4 run to begin the third period and they charged ahead into the final frame up 69-56. They never looked back from there, enjoying leads as big as 31 points en route to their final 24-point winning margin.
Mujtaba Mahmood Rayyan added 17 points including five three-pointers for Bahrain, while Ali Husain Mohamed contributed 10. Majak Awutiak Mathiang paced Syria with 14 points, while Yusuf Takriti added 13 in their loss.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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