Bahrainis lose to South Korea in U16 Asian basketball

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s youth national basketball team suffered a second successive defeat yesterday at the FIBA Asia U16 Championship 2023 in Doha.

The Bahrainis fell to continental powerhouses South Korea 62-89 in their Group C clash.

It was yet another big loss for the nationals, who bowed to Jordan in their opening fixture 44-85 on Sunday. Bahrain went behind by as many as 33 points against the Koreans.

They had a strong start and trailed just 20-21 at the end of the first quarter, but were then outscored 7-23 in the second and faced a 27-44 deficit at the half.

They never recovered, and the Koreans ran away with their maiden win of the tournament after losing to New Zealand in their first assignment.

The Kiwis dismantled their Jordanian counterparts 119-45 in yesterday’s other Group C contest.

Bahrain wrap up their preliminary round campaign when they play the Kiwis today morning at 11.30am, Bahrain time.

Husain Alsamaheeji and Ali Altoq shared game-high honours for the Bahrainis yesterday against Korea with 17 points apiece.

Hasan Jameela added 10 points in the losing effort. Geonwoo Heo and Jihoon Yoon paced five Korean players in double figures with 12 points apiece.

There are 16 nations in all competing in the tournament.

Group A features Australia, India, Lebanon and Sri Lanka; Group B comprises Iran, Japan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia; and Group D consists of the Philippines, China, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.

At the end of the preliminary stage, the top team from each group moves directly to the quarter-finals, while the second and third-ranked squads go to round two.