Manama take on Astana in FIBA WASL semi-final

TDT | Manama                                                               

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s Manama Club face off with Kazakhstan’s BC Astana tonight in the semi-finals of the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) Final Eight, being held in Dubai.

The game is scheduled for a 6pm tip-off, Bahrain time, and it will be played at Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum Sports Hall. It will be followed by the other final four fixture between Al Riyadi of Lebanon and Kuwait SC of Kuwait at 8.45pm.

Manama booked their tickets to this stage after finishing second in Group A of the tournament’s preliminary stage. Heading into today’s game, head coach Pantelis Gavriel from Greece praised his team for making it to this phase.

“It’s a big moment for us, you know, small Bahrain to be a representative in the top four teams of WASL,” he said. “We’re proud of it. We’re going to continue to stay humble and work hard to achieve more.”

Manama defeated Beirut of Lebanon 86-75 in their previous contest, which came after a big loss in their opening fixture against Riyadi. Gavriel hopes they can continue to build on their momentum.

“It was difficult to bounce back two days for us after a blowout,” he said. “We’re not used to it. In the local competition, we’re competitive and winning games and it wasn’t easy, but to show character in a bounce-back to take an important win…It feels great at first [to make it to the semi-finals], but it’s something that we’ve built through the process.”

The winners of tonight’s semis games move on to the gold medal contest tomorrow at 5.45pm, Bahrain time, while the losers battle for the bronze medals at 3pm.

In this maiden edition of the competition, the WASL Final Eight also acts as a qualifier for FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2023, on the road to FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2023, FIBA’s highest club competition.