All to play for in play-off

Bahrain Face Chinese Taipei for Fiba U18 Asia Cup Last Eight

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain face Chinese Taipei today at 11am Bahrain time, with a place in the quarter-finals of the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026 on the line in Ahmedabad, India.

Salman Ramadhan’s side head into the qualification play-off at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium after finishing runners-up in Group B with two victories from three games.

The kingdom’s youth men secured their passage to the play-offs with a commanding 92-68 win over Syria, bouncing back strongly from their heavy defeat to New Zealand in the previous round.

Bahrain had launched their campaign with a 74-68 victory over Lebanon before falling 86-42 to the Junior Tall Blacks, who went on to top the group with a perfect record.

Against Syria, the Bahrainis raced into a 29-15 lead after the opening quarter, only to see their advantage reduced to a single point, 40-39, at half-time.

They took complete control after the break, however, outscoring their opponents 52-29 across the final two quarters and stretching their lead to as many as 31 points.

Somto Patrick Onoduenyi and Hassan Abdulkadir were again at the heart of Bahrain’s success, with both big men posting double-doubles.

Onoduenyi finished with 26 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, while Abdulkadir contributed 21 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Mujtaba Mahmood Rayyan provided further firepower with 17 points, including five three-pointers, while Ali Husain Mohamed chipped in with 10.

Standing between Bahrain and a place in the last eight are Chinese Taipei, who finished third in Group A with a 1-2 record.

The six-time Asian medalists closed their preliminary campaign with a 110-58 loss to defending champions Australia, who swept the group with three straight victories.

Carter Coleman was the standout performer for Chinese Taipei in that defeat, recording 18 points, five rebounds and two assists, and will be one of the main threats Bahrain must contain today.

Chinese Taipei are seeking to improve on their 12th-place finish at the 2024 edition, while Bahrain are bidding to extend their continental run and move within one victory of qualification for the Fiba U19 Basketball World Cup 2027.

The four teams reaching the semi-finals in Ahmedabad will earn Asia’s berths at next year’s global championship.