Road to Asia 2029 begins
Bahrain begin their FIBA Asia Cup 2029 pre-qualifying campaign today when they face Gulf rivals Oman in Dubai.
Tip-off is at 4pm Bahrain time, with the contest marking Greek-Slovenian head coach Slobodan Subotic’s first official tournament since taking charge of the kingdom’s senior men.
Drawn in Group A alongside Oman, hosts the UAE, Kuwait and Nepal, Bahrain must finish among the top three to advance to the second round. All group matches are being staged in Dubai.
Subotic has selected a 12-man squad featuring brothers Mustafa and Ali Hussain, Ahmed Salman, Mohammed Buallay, Mohammed Ghazi, Ali Jaber, Ahmed Bindayneh, Mohammed Nasser, Ahmed Alderazi, Mahmood Abbas, JaKarr Sampson and Somto Patrick Onoduenyi.
Since arriving in the UAE, the Reds have continued their preparations with training sessions in Dubai ahead of today’s opener.
Their clash with Oman begins a demanding run of four matches in five days. With limited recovery time between games, Bahrain will need to manage the physical and technical demands of the schedule as they chase one of the three qualification places.
Subotic’s side return to action tomorrow at 7pm for another Gulf encounter, this time against hosts the UAE.
A rest day follows on Saturday before Bahrain meet Nepal on Sunday at 4pm. They conclude their Group A campaign against Kuwait on Monday at 7pm. All times are Bahrain.
A total of 18 national teams are competing in the opening round of pre-qualification, with 17 from Asia joined by Oceania representatives Fiji. The field is divided into four groups being contested at centralised venues across the continent.
Group B in Almaty features hosts Kazakhstan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Kyrgyzstan. Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and hosts Malaysia make up Group C in Seremban, while Group D in Ulaanbaatar comprises hosts Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam and Fiji.
With three teams progressing from each group, 12 nations will advance to the second round, scheduled for the international window from November 23 to December 1.
Those sides will form two groups of six, with the top three from Groups A and B comprising Group E and the top three from Groups C and D forming Group F. The top four from each will earn places in the FIBA Asia Cup 2029 Qualifiers, joining the 16 nations that competed at the 2025 continental tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Beyond their qualifying ambitions, the Dubai campaign also provides Bahrain with competitive action ahead of next month’s 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The kingdom are among 12 teams entered in the men’s five-on-five basketball competition and have been drawn in Group C alongside defending champions the Philippines, China and Kazakhstan.
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