Gunners United advance

Manama : Group three’s Frsan Palace Hotel secured a precious 2-0 win against last year’s runners-up Batelco Gunners United at Khalifa Sports City Football Stadium in Isa Town as part of Nasser 10 Football Tournament. 

Batelco Gunners United, however, qualified for the quarter finals despite their defeat. Frsan Palace Hotel took the lead within three minutes of the start through Sultan Mansour and Hisham Jawad doubled their lead in the 19 minutes. Frsan Palace Hotel could have added a third goal to their tally had Hisham Jawad converted a penalty kick in the 74th minute. 

In reaction to quarter finals qualification, Nomas player Shaikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who won the best player of the match award against Al Ahlam, expressed happiness at qualifying for the quarterfinals after topping Group 2. “We deserved this after the performances throughout the group stage and look forward to continuing our positive run,” Shaikh Abdullah said, while Al Ahlam player Sayed Ali Isa blamed the lack of preparations for his team’s dismissal from the tournament. “Our players weren’t ready, we missed the required understanding,” he explained. 

The quarter finals of the Nasser 10 Football get underway tomorrow at Shaikh Khalifa Sports City with Group 1 leader Suqoor Al Bahrain facing Group 2 runner-up Batelco Gunners United at 9pm, followed by the game between Nomas, Group 1 runner-up and Victorious, Group 2 leader at 11:15pm. 

Meanwhile, under the patronage of HH Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Basketball Association, the final match of the Expats Basketball Championship will be held today at the Bahrain Football Association Hall in Umm Al Hassam. The American Team and the Filipino C Team are the finalists and a largely exciting match is expected to entertain the fans. 

The championship is part of the 3rd Nasser bin Hamad Ramadan Games “Nasser 10”. The American Team progressed to the final after thrashing the Indian Team 82-57, while the Filipino C Team squeezed past the Filipino B Team 77-71.  

The final match of the 3 on 3 Basketball Championship will be played today also after the preliminary round and the semifinals took place yesterday. 

The High Organising Committee has allotted five raffle cash prizes worth BD500, BD100 apiece for the final match of the Expats Basketball Championship.

In the Wheelchair Basketball Championship, Muharraq defeated Al Hala 28-17 and Al Ahli 23-16 and was part of Nasser 10.