Bahrain bow to dominant ‘Boomers’

TDT | Manama                                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain suffered a disheartening 50-104 loss to Asian champions Australia last night in continental qualifying for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023. The nationals were thoroughly outclassed in the contest by the heavily favoured visitors, nicknamed the “Boomers”, and could not keep up as they fell behind by as many as the final losing margin of 54 points.

The game was the Bahrainis’ first in Group F in the second round of qualification. With results from the previous stage against their divisional opponents being carried over, Bahrain registered their fifth loss to go with two wins.

Bahrain have no time to rest as they are back in qualifying action on Monday in Astana, Kazakhstan, where they will take on Asian powerhouses China, who were also in action yesterday, defeating hosts Uzbekistan 68-56.

The Aussies, on the other hand, fly back home straight to the city of Bendigo in Victoria, as they next take on Iran, also on Monday. The Iranians defeated Japan 79-68 in another Group F fixture yesterday in Tehran.

Last night’s loss was a disappointing result for the Bahrainis, who were riding on a recent high after winning their previous two World Cup qualifiers to earn them their place in this round. They then also put on a spirited performance in the recently held FIBA Asia Cup.

The nationals already faced a big deficit at the end of the first quarter, down 10-27, which became 28-53 at the half. Australia continued to pile on the pressure to take a 79-41 advantage into the final canto, where they enjoyed their biggest leads en route to closing out the one-sided result.

Naturalised big man Wayne Chism paced Bahrain in the loss with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Maitham Jameel finished as their only other player in double figures with 12 points—all from beyond the three-point line.

Dejan Vasilijevic was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points for Australia, including six triples. Luke Travers and Angus Brandt added 17 apiece, while Rhys Anthony Vague chipped in with 10. The “Boomers” improved to a 7-0 win-loss record at the top of Group F.

Following their game with China on Monday, the Bahrainis next host Japan on November 11 before also taking on the Chinese in the Kingdom on November 14. The nationals then travel to Australia for their away game on February 23 next year, before playing in Japan on February 26.

The 12 remaining teams in Asian qualifying have been divided into two groups for this round. Group E features New Zealand, Lebanon, Jordan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and India. The top three teams from each group, along with hosts Japan and the Philippines, qualify for next year’s World Cup.