Bahrain head to Qatar for friendly tournament

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s basketball team will depart for Doha today to compete in a three-nation friendly tournament as they step up preparations for the Fiba Asia Cup 2029 pre-qualifiers.

The nationals will join hosts Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the three-day tournament, which gets underway tomorrow and runs until Saturday.

Bahrain open their campaign against Qatar tomorrow before facing Saudi Arabia on Friday, with both games scheduled for 7pm.

The tournament will provide another opportunity for newly appointed Greek-Slovenian head coach Slobodan Subotic to assess his squad ahead of the first round of the continental pre-qualifiers in Dubai.

The Bahrainis have continued their preparations at home in recent days, with training focused on improving the players’ technical and physical readiness and implementing Subotic’s tactical plans.

An initial 18 players were called up for the preparations: Mustafa Hussain, Ahmed Salman, Mohammed Buallay, Ahmed Bindayneh, Mohammed Juma’a, Ali Jaber, Mahmood Abbas Isa, Ali Hussain, Ahmed Alderazi, Emran Ashkanani, Abdulqader Thani, Hamad Faisal, Mohammed Ghazi, Ali Mohsen, Hassan Fahad, Nader Shaker, Muzamil Ameer Hamoda and JaKarr Sampson.

The squad is expected to be trimmed to a final roster ahead of Bahrain’s competitive campaign.

Following the Doha tournament, Bahrain will turn their attention to the pre-qualifiers, which are scheduled to take place in Dubai from August 24 to September 1.

They have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts UAE, Oman, Nepal and Kuwait.

Bahrain begin their campaign against Oman on August 27 before facing the UAE the following day. After a rest day, they take on Nepal on August 30 and conclude the round against Kuwait on August 31.

The top three teams from the group will progress to the second round of pre-qualifiers, scheduled to be played later this year.

Bahrain are also preparing for next month’s Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, where they have been drawn in Group C alongside defending champions the Philippines, China and Kazakhstan.