BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN named yesterday a 12-player roster that will be hitting the hardwood in the second round of pre-qualifiers for the Fiba Asia Cup 2029, set to take place at the end of the month in Lebanon.
The kingdom’s senior men’s basketball national team will also be competing as hosts in the second edition of the Bahrain International Basketball Tournament, to be played November 19 to 21 at the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Arena in Um Al Hassam Sports Complex.
The Bahrain roster was announced yesterday by the BBA and selected by national team head coach Slobodan Subotic from Slovenia.
The nationals are to be spearheaded by star guards Mustafa Hussain, Ahmed Salman, Ahmed Alderazi, along with versatile forwards JaKarr Sampson, Mohammed Juma’a, Ahmed Bindayneh, and the returning Mohammed Ameer, who was previously sidelined from international duty by injury.
The rest of the squad features Mahmood Abbas, Abdulqader Thani, Mohammed Ghazi, Hamad Faisal, and Murtadha Salman.
The Bahrainis are scheduled to gather for training under Subotic’s supervision following the completion of gameweek six today in the 2026-27 Zain Bahrain Basketball League.
Bahrain are one of 12 senior men’s national teams that will be competing in round two of the pre-qualifiers for the Fiba Asia Cup 2029, to be held in the Lebanese town of Zouk Mikael from November 27 to 30.
They are in Group E alongside Palestine, Kazakhstan, the UAE, Kuwait, and Sri Lanka, Group F is composed of Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji, and hosts Mongolia, with their fixtures set to be played in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The Bahrainis made it through to this phase after winning all four of their Group A fixtures in the first round of pre-qualifying held in Dubai, the UAE, in August and September. All teams carry forward their results from that phase into the second round.
The top four teams from each group at this stage will make it to the Fiba Asia Cup 2029 qualifiers, joining the 16 automatically qualified teams by virtue of their participation in the Fiba Asia Cup 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Fiba Asia Cup 2029 qualifiers will then comprise three international windows, followed by two Fiba Asia Cup 2029 qualifying tournaments for third-placed teams to ascertain the 16 nations that will feature in the continental showcase.
Meanwhile, the Bahrain International Basketball Tournament will feature the senior men’s squads of Syria, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
Two games will be played on November 19 – the first will see Syria take on the UAE at 6pm, to be followed by Kuwait going up against hosts Bahrain at 8pm.
The winners will then face off in the final at 8pm on November 21, while the losers will lock horns for third place earlier the same evening at 6pm.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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