Bahrain’s youngsters step up training for GBA Championship

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s national U18 basketball team are stepping up their preparations for the upcoming Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) U18 Championship 2026, as they look to secure a pathway to the FIBA U18 Asia Cup.

The regional tournament will be held in Doha, Qatar, from July 17 to 22, and will act as the qualification route to the continental stage. The top three teams will earn spots at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026, which is scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad, India, from August 13 to 23.

At home, the Bahrain squad is currently training under newly appointed head coach Salman Ramadhan at the Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) Arena in the Um Al Hassam Sports Complex. A 19-player preliminary training group has been assembled, with the final roster expected to be confirmed closer to the tournament.

The training group includes Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, Hassan Abdulkadir, Mujtaba Rayyan, Ali Ferdowsi, Mohammed Farhan, Mohammed Adel Hussain, Ali Khalil Mohammed, Ali Ayman Hamza, Ehsan Abdulreza Ali, Yousef Al Samaheeji, Mohammed Hameed Haider, Ali Sadeq Al Hadaad, Hussain Fuad Musa, Khaled Ali Hafez, Mahdi Habib Ahmed, Divine Tochukwu Abochi, Jock James, Hussain Madan, and Khaled Mohammed.

Bahrain will be aiming to reach the FIBA U18 Asia Cup for the seventh time in their history, having last appeared in the 2018 edition held in Thailand. In the most recent qualifying cycle in 2024, the team claimed a bronze medal at the GBA U18 tournament but narrowly missed out on securing a place at the Asian finals.

The FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2026 will bring together 16 of the best teams across the continent. The competition will open with a group stage, where teams are divided into four groups of four. From there, the top three teams in each group will advance to the knockout phase.

Group winners will progress directly to the quarter-finals, while the second- and third-placed teams will compete in a play-off round to determine the remaining quarter-finalists.

Beyond that, the stakes extend further: the top four teams from the tournament will qualify for the FIBA U19 World Cup 2027, which will be held in Pardubice, Czechia, from June 26 to July 4.