Mixed fortunes for Bahrain in 3x3 opener

The women produced a perfect Pool A campaign, opening with a 13-9 victory over hosts Singapore before cruising past Saudi Arabia 19-5 to finish top of the group and book their place in the title-decider.

JaMya Robinson led the way against Singapore with five points, while Bayan Salman scored four and Polina Sviatskaia added three.

Robinson and Sviatskaia then produced seven points apiece in the dominant win over Saudi Arabia, with Salman contributing four.

Australia proved too strong in the final, racing into a 10-0 lead before eventually reaching the 21-point target with more than two minutes remaining to seal a 21-8 victory.

Salman top-scored for Bahrain with four points in the defeat, while Sviatskaia added three and Ninel Merkotun one.

The men, meanwhile, began Stop 1 with a 21-6 defeat to hosts Singapore in their first Pool A outing.

Mohammed Alanzi scored three points in the loss, with Elyas Younes adding two and Meshal Mohammed one.

Bogdan Dragovic’s side responded strongly against Saudi Arabia, recovering from an early 4-0 deficit to claim a 14-11 victory.

Bahrain still trailed 10-6 with less than three minutes remaining before mounting a late comeback, with Ismail Alansari’s two-pointer putting them 12-11 ahead with 44 seconds remaining.

Younes then converted two late free throws to seal the victory.

Alansari, Younes and Meshal Mohammed finished with four points each, while Alanzi added two.

The win was not enough to send Bahrain into the Stop 1 final, however, with Singapore finishing top of Pool A to bring the men’s campaign to an end.

Singapore went on to face Australia in the final, where the Australians claimed a 22-18 victory.

Both Bahrain teams return to action today for Stop 2, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia joining them in Pool A.

The men open against Qatar at 8.55am before facing Saudi Arabia at 12.35pm, while the women take on Qatar at 10.20am and Saudi Arabia at 12.10pm.

Only the Pool A winners will progress to the finals, where they will face the respective Pool B winners. The women’s final is scheduled for 2pm, followed by the men’s title-decider at 2.25pm.

The Singapore event features six stops in total, with teams collecting points towards qualification for the Fiba 3x3 U23 World Cup in Hubei, China, next month.