Bahrain basketball team heads to San Juan for Olympic qualifiers

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Report by Hussain Almaskati

The Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) has revealed an 11-player squad for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Led by head coach Jad El Hajj, the team aims to secure a spot in the Paris Olympics 2024.

Bahrain, ranked 67th globally, will compete in Group B against formidable opponents: world number 13 Italy and world number 16 Puerto Rico.

The games are scheduled for this week, with Bahrain facing Italy early Wednesday and Puerto Rico the next day.

To advance to the semi-finals on July 6, Bahrain must rank among the top two in their group. The final match is set for July 7. Group A includes Mexico, Ivory Coast, and Lithuania.

Only the group winner will qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The team features big men Wayne Chism, Muzamil Ameer Hamoda, and Mohammed Ameer Hamoda, along with guards Maitham Jameel, Ahmed Salman, and Ali Aqeel.

Other players include Ali Shukrallah, Sadeq Shukrallah, Hussain Ali, Mohammed Buallay, and Subah Hussain.

Notably absent is prolific scorer Mustafa Hussain.

Originally scheduled to train in the US, the team faced visa issues and trained locally instead.

The Bahrain squad has already departed and will arrive in San Juan tonight.

The team will face NBA stars Danilo Gallinari from Italy and Jose Alvarado from Puerto Rico during the tournament.