Bahrain fall to Japan after strong start

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s youth men’s basketball team lost 79-90 to Japan yesterday in their penultimate preliminary-round game at the 31st Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany.

The defeat was their fourth in as many matches, ending their hopes of reaching the semi-finals from Group A.

Vovoras’ side started brightly and took control early. They edged the first quarter 21-19 and carried that momentum into the second, building a 43-36 halftime lead after a composed opening half.

Japan, however, turned the game around after the break. They dominated the third quarter 31-16 to seize the lead, then held off the nationals’ efforts in the fourth to secure the win.

Hassan Abdulkadir led Bahrain with an impressive 27 points and 19 rebounds, while Somto Patrick Onoduenyi added 14 points, 15 boards, and nine assists in another allaround performance.

Mahdi Baqer contributed 11 points, but Bahrain struggled from long range, converting just five of their 22 attempts from beyond the arc. The Japanese side also had a balanced scoring effort. Roi Honda led the way with 14 points, while Cayman Tsuneoka added 13 and Hiromasa Fujiwara contributed 12 in their strong second-half performance. Bahrain, making their debut in the prestigious under-18 competition, had earlier fallen to Germany, Sweden, and Slovenia.

They will conclude their preliminary campaign against Türkiye today at 2:15pm before moving into the classification games to determine places fifth through 12th.

The tournament is being held in Mannheim and Viernheim and runs until April 11. For the nationals, it also provides valuable preparation for the Gulf Basketball Association qualifiers for the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026 in Qatar.