Bahrain lose to Qatar in Gulf basketball

TDT | Manama                                                           

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain suffered a 47-63 defeat to Qatar yesterday in the FIBA Asia U18 Championship-Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Qualifier, currently being held in Dubai. The Bahrainis kept things close in the opening half, trailing by five, 27-32, heading into the interval.

But their opponents extended their advantage over the final two periods, when the nationals could only manage 10 points in each. It was the first loss for Bahrain in the tournament after beginning their campaign with a 20-point win over the UAE and then a 69-point rout of Oman.

Nasser Al Anzoor was the national team’s lone player in double figures, finishing with 20 points. Abbas Fahad Khalaf added eight in the loss. Mohammed Ndao paced Qatar, who led by as many as 16 points in the contest.

Bahrain, coached by Mindaugas Janiska from Lithuania, are scheduled to return to the hardwood tomorrow when they will hope to bounce back against Kuwait at 7.30pm, Bahrain time. They then play their final preliminary round contest against Saudi on Wednesday at 7.30pm, Bahrain time. Today is a rest day.

The regional tournament is also being played to determine the GBA teams that will compete in the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2022, which will take place in Tehran from August 21 to 28. Only the top two teams from the GBA will book their tickets to the continental showcase.

All six GCC nations are participating in the event, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and hosts UAE. Following this preliminary stage single round-robin, the top four teams will advance to the semi-finals, which will be held on Friday, where the top seeds will face the fourth ranked squad while the second seeds will play the third. The bronze and gold medal games will then take place on Saturday.