BASKETBALL – Bahrain will be facing off with Iraq and India as they make one final bid to qualify for the Fiba Asia Cup 2025.
The kingdom’s senior men’s basketball national team came up short in their hopes of securing a direct berth in the tournament proper, scheduled to be held this August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
They lost four of their six games in the now-completed continental qualifying competition, including their decisive 87-89 defeat to Syria on Monday in Doha. But the nationals have one more chance in another qualification event, where they will take on both their Iraqi and Indian counterparts.
The trio are amongst six teams who will be vying for four more berths in this year’s Fiba Asia Cup. Bahrain, Iraq, and India will be competing in a West Asian qualifying competition, while Chinese Taipei, Guam, and Thailand will play their own in East Asia.
Both events will feature a single round-robin, and the top two teams will punch their tickets to the highly anticipated basketball showcase.
These games are expected to be played next month. The full schedule will be announced in due course by Fiba Asia.
A total of 16 teams from Asia and Oceania are set to compete in Jeddah.
Australia, Lebanon and Jordan, who were the top three teams of the last Fiba Asia Cup in 2022, finished the qualifiers unbeaten after sweeping all six of their games. They are joined by China, Iran, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines, Qatar, Syria, and the host Saudis as the 12 nations that have already secured their places.
Meanwhile, Bahrain head coach Jad El Hajj rued their missed qualifying opportunity in their loss against the Syrians, which he described as being “a 50-50 game”.
“Congratulations to Syria – I am not going to take any credit away from them, they opened the game in a great way and fought for 40 minutes,” El Hajj said in his post-game Press conference Monday night.
“We lost two quarters, we won two quarters – this was a 50-50 game, and in the end, they got it with a difference of two points.
“We wish them all the best in the Fiba Asia Cup. We have two more games next month for qualification, and hopefully we make it there.”
When asked about their size disadvantage against the Syrians, El Hajj said: “These are things we cannot control – size. We tried to fight – maybe we won in rebounds, we grabbed six rebounds more than them – but at the end it is a 40-minute game, there are a lot of details we should focus on.
“We missed a lot of shots and gave them a lot of second chances. We played soft in the beginning, so when you play a 40-minute game, there are a hundred details, so it’s not only about size.”
The Fiba Asia Cup is the continent’s premier basketball tournament, featuring senior men’s national teams from Fiba Asia as well as from Fiba Oceania. Bahrain are looking to qualify for the championship for the 10th time.
The national team made their debut in the competition’s 1977 edition in Malaysia. Their best finish so far was 10th in the 1997 event held in Saudi. They qualified for the previous edition in 2022, where they ranked 13th overall amongst the 16 nations.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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