HM King’s Cup match-ups set

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Holders Al Hala were last night drawn against Al Tadhamun for the first round of the  2023/2024 His Majesty the King’s Cup football tournament.

The draw for the single-elimination competition was conducted yesterday by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) in a ceremony that took place at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel.

A total of 24 teams are in this year’s event, with eight already through to the round of 16 based on their rankings last season in the Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League.

BFA president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa was on hand at the ceremony along with other BFA officials and representatives from the participating clubs.

Also at the event, the glittering new edition of the prestigious trophy was unveiled.

The HM the King’s Cup is the richest football competition in the Kingdom, with the winners taking home BD100,000 in prize money and BD50,000 going to the runners-up.

Last night’s draw set the pairings for the opening elimination round, which will determine the winners who will move on to the round of 16.

Hala were drawn against Tadhamun, with the victor advancing to the next phase where they will take on reigning league champions Al Khaldiya.

The other teams joining Khaldiya that are also awaiting their opponents in the round of 16 are Riffa, Muharraq, Al Shabab, Sitra, Al Ahli, Manama and Hidd.

The remaining first round eliminations pit Busaiteen against Bouri, Um Al Hassam against Budaiya, East Riffa against Isa Town, Al Ettifaq against Ettihad Al Reef, A’ali against Al Malkiya, Bahrain Club with Galali, and Al Ettihad against Al Najma.

In the round of 16, Riffa face the winners of A’ali-Malkiya match, Muharraq play the winners of Bahrain Club-Galali, Shabab take on the winners of Ettihad-Najma, Sitra play the winners of Bouri-Busaiteen, Ahli face the winners of Um Al Hassam-Budaiya, Manama take on the winners of East Riffa-Isa Town and Hidd face the winners of Ettifaq-Ettihad Al Reef.

In the 2022/2023 His Majesty the King’s Cup, Hala were crowned champions after a heart-stopping 6-5 victory over Al Ahli in a hugely thrilling penalty shootout in the final.

The decider extended to an amazing 10 spot kicks per squad.

The match had ended goalless after 90 minutes and the score remained nil-nil after 30 minutes of extra-time.