BASKETBALL – Bahrain begin the long road to potentially securing their berth in the Fiba Asia Cup 2029 today when they face off with Oman in their opening game in round one of pre-qualifying in Dubai, the UAE.
The kingdom’s senior men’s basketball national team have been gearing up over the past several weeks for their Group A campaign in this qualification event.
They lock horns with their Omani counterparts at Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Sports Hall in the Emirates.
Tip-off is scheduled for 4pm, Bahrain time.
The Bahrainis are one of 18 national teams – 17 from Asia along with Fiji from Oceania – that have been divided into four groups being hosted at separate locations in the pre-qualifiers’ first round.
Twelve teams – the top three from each group – will advance to round two, to be split into another two groups of six.
It will be held in a round-robin format, to be played between November 23 and December 1 later this year at to-be-confirmed venues.
The top four teams from each second round group then make it to the Fiba Asia Cup 2029 qualifiers, joining the 16 teams that played in the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Group A action in pre-qualifying got underway yesterday, with the host Emiratis routing Nepal 110-64 followed by Kuwait beating Oman 88-63.
In today’s other divisional clash, the Kuwaitis and Emiratis battle at 6pm, Bahrain time.
Following their assignment today, the nationals next face the UAE tomorrow at 7pm.
A rest day for all teams will be held on Saturday, after which the Bahrainis will face Nepal on Sunday at 4pm.
They complete their schedule this round against Kuwait on Monday at 7pm.
All times are Bahrain.
Bahrain completed their final preparations yesterday with a team practice conducted by Greek-Slovenian tactician Slobodan Subotic, who is in his first official competition in charge of the kingdom’s senior men’s squad.
His players in Dubai include Mustafa Hussain, Ahmed Salman, JaKarr Sampson, Mohammed Buallay, Ahmed Bindayneh, Ali Jaber, Mahmood Abbas Isa, Ahmed Alderazi, Mohammed Juma’a, Ali Hussain, Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, and Mohammed Ghazi.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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