Bahrain lose basketball opener
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain bowed to the Philippines 61-89 yesterday in their opening game of the men’s basketball tournament at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The Bahrainis fell behind in the second quarter when they were outscored by 14 points, 15- 29, turning an 18-22 deficit at the end of the opening period to a 33-51 hole at the half.
The nationals never recovered from there, going down by as many as 34 points en route to the heavy loss. Attending the contest was the Kingdom’s delegation head in Hangzhou and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
He was accompanied by BOC Secretary General Faris Al Kooheji, Bahrain’s Chef de Mission Ahmed Abdulghaffar, and other officials. Bahrain will be looking to bounce back in their remaining games in Group C against Jordan and Thailand.
The Jordanians were 97-63 winners over the Thais in yesterday’s other pool fixture. Bahrain and Jordan face off tomorrow at 6am, Bahrain time, before the nationals face Thailand on Saturday, at 12.30pm, Bahrain time.
The Bahrainis struggled shooting from the field in yesterday’s loss with just 19 makes from 64 attempts for a 30 per cent clip. Maitham Jameel had 14 points to pace the nationals, while Mustafa Hussain added 13 and brother Ali Hussain finished with 12.
Mohammed Buallay added eight points and Ali Aqeel had six, while big man Wayne Chism was held to just five markers with 13 rebounds. All but one of the Philippines’ 12 players scored in the game. Jaymar Perez and Angelo Kouame were their top performers with 15 points apiece, while Justin Brownlee had 14.
There are 16 nations in all competing in men’s basketball at Hangzhou. Group A features Iran, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Group B consists of defending Asian Games champions China, Lebanon, Chinese-Taipei and Mongolia; and Group D comprises Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Qatar.
After a single round-robin, the top teams in each group will qualify directly for the quarter-finals on 4 October. The second and third-ranked sides will play each other in a play-off round on Monday next week for the right to determine the four other quarter-finalists.
The semi-finals and fifth-to-eighth ranking games are then scheduled for 5 October; and then the gold and bronze medal games, plus the final classification contests, will be held on 7 October.
Bahrain did not participate in men’s basketball in the previous three editions of the Asian Games. Their last appearance on the hardwood was at the 2006 Asiad in Doha, where they were ranked 12th overall on the final classification amongst 20 participating nations.
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