All-Star Game headlines BBA Festival

The Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) hosted its annual All-Star Festival last night, highlighted by a fun and light-hearted All-Star Game. The team captained by Al Ahli’s Mohammed Qurban defeated the squad skippered by Riffa’s Subah Hussain 78-63, but there was much more to the affair than the final score.

The exhibition contest featured flashy and free-flowing action, with both teams resorting to plenty of humorous antics for much of the second half of the game. In attendance were Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) Board Member and Women’s Sport Committee Chairwoman Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, BBA President Talal Kanoo, Bahrain Handball Association president Ali Isa, and other high-ranking officials.

They presented the festival’s participants commemorative trophies at the end of the event. They also awarded the winners of the various side competitions held, including Muharraq’s Mohammed Juma’a for winning the Slam Dunk contest, Manama’s Mustafa Hussain for winning the Three-Point Shootout, and Manama’s Ahmed Salman for topping the Skills Challenge. The All-Star Game consisted of two 15-minute halves.

Players stepped on and off the court while the clock was running as substitutions were not made during dead balls. There were also lots of dunks from the participating professional players as well as from Bahraini talents Juma’a and Mohammed Ameer.

The last four minutes was a virtual free-for-all, with nearly all the players from both teams on the court at the same time. At one point, the head coach of Qurban’s team, veteran Bahraini tactician Aqeel Milad, came onto the hardwood and attempted a three-pointer.

Following that, a pair of fans from both sides also came onto the playing field, taking turns at shooting the ball, much to the delight of the players and the fans. Qurban’s team included Salman, Ahmed Aziz, Mohammed Hussain and Ahmed Najaf from Manama; Abdulrahman Ghali from Riffa; Juma’a, Ahmed Hassan, Bader Abdulla Malabes and Mohammed Buallay from Muharraq; and professional players Kevin Murphy from Muharraq along with Milos Macura from Sitra.

Subah Hussain’s team featured Hussain Shaker, Hassan Nowrooz and Ameer from Manama; Ali Aqeel, Maytham Jameel, and Hesham Sarhan from Al Ahli; Ali Shukrallah from Muharraq; Mohammed Albutti from Nuwaidrat; Hussain Mohammed from Al Najma; and imports Christopher McKnight from Manama and Antwan Wilkerson from Samaheej. After the All-Star Game, the Slam Dunk Contest was held.

Juma’a impressed the judges most by jumping over a crouched player. Some of the other top participants who also wowed with their dunks were Murphy, Macura and McKnight. In the Three-Point Shootout, young Mustafa Hussain beat out several other players who excelled, including teammate Ahmed Salman, Ahli’s Sayed Hashim Habib and Murphy, to name a few.

The All-Star Game was held under the patronage of Kanoo, and was a part of the BBA’s AllStar Festival, which was held in celebration of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s National Day.