Bahrain Crowned Gulf U18 Basketball Champions
Bahrain blew hosts Qatar apart 77-45 in Doha on Thursday to take the Gulf under-18 basketball crown with a perfect four wins from four.
The young Bahrainis led from the off. They were 20-14 up after the first quarter, then tore through Qatar 25-9 in the second to build a huge 45-23 half-time lead.
There was no way back for the hosts. Bahrain went into the last quarter 62-37 ahead before winning the closing spell 15-8 to finish the job in style.
Hassan Abdulkadir led the charge with 22 points and 20 rebounds in 37 minutes. He sank nine of his 14 shots from the field and posted a game-best plus-29 rating.
Powerhouse Somto Patrick Onoduenyi was just as hard to stop, piling up 16 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks. Sharp playmaker Mahdi Habib weighed in with 11 points and nine assists.
Dead-eye shooter Yousuf Yaqoob hit three shots from long range for nine points, while lively guard Mujtaba Mahmood added eight.
Abdulkadir and Onoduenyi racked up 38 points and 39 rebounds between them as Bahrain bossed the paint and shut Qatar out near the rim.
The rout followed wins over Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman. Bahrain scored 339 points across the four games and gave up 199, leaving them with a points difference of plus 140.
Bahrain and Qatar had already earned the Gulf’s two spots at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup before Thursday’s game, turning their meeting into a straight fight for top place.
The Asia Cup will be held in Ahmedabad, India, from August 13 to 23. The top four sides will earn places at the 2027 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in the Czech Republic.
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