Bahrainis eye Olympics pre-qualifiers

TDT | Manama              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national basketball team have begun their preparations for the Asian pre-qualifiers for the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics 2024.

There is a long road to securing a berth in the Olympiad, and it begins with continental pre-qualification, scheduled to take place in Damascus, Syria from August 12 to 20. The Bahrainis have kick started their training under newly signed head coach Ricard Casas.

The Spaniard arrived recently in the Kingdom and immediately went to work with the nationals, who are holding daily training at the Zain Basketball Arena in Um Al Hassam.

Bahrain are also set to hold a training camp in Turkey in the coming weeks, as part of the final lead-up to the pre-qualifiers. Among the players currently participating in the practices are Mustafa Hussain, Ali Hussain, Maitham Jameel, Mohammed Buallay, Ali Jaber, Alwethaq Ali, Ali Shukrallah and Wayne Chism, to name a few.

Casas has decades of experience coaching at the highest levels of basketball. He was an assistant coach of the Barcelona basketball team, and was also head coach of Spain’s under-20 and under-18 teams, among other posts.

Casas has been a lecturer and teacher for the Spanish Basketball Federation for more than 10 years, and on the international stage has coached in Asia, Latina America and Africa. The other teams in Asian pre-qualifying are Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, India, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia and Syria—all of whom will be vying for just one spot in the FIBA Men’s Olympic qualifying tournaments.

The Bahrainis have been drawn in Group A alongside India, South Korea and Chinese Taipei for the pre-qualifiers’ preliminary round, while Group B features the Saudis, Kazakhs, Indonesians and Syrians.

After a single round-robin, the top two from each pool will advance to the semi-finals, and then the final will decide the side that will punch their ticket to the qualifying tournaments. This Asian event is one of five pre-qualifiers from all FIBA confederations.