Cagers depart for Japan

TDT | Manama

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Bahrain’s senior men’s basketball team departed for Japan last night ahead of their campaign at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

The kingdom’s cagers head into the continental showpiece in good form after sweeping through Group A of the opening round of FIBA Asia Cup 2029 pre-qualifying unbeaten in Dubai last week.

Nine players from that campaign have made the trip, with big men Uros Ilic and Elijah Thomas and guard-forward Kelechi Ajukwa added to strengthen Greek-Slovenian head coach Slobodan Subotic’s side.

The trio join Ahmed Alderazi, Ahmed Bindayneh, Ahmed Haji, Ali Rashed, Ali Al Haddad, Mustafa Rashed, JaKarr Sampson, Mohammed Juma’a and Mohammed Buallay in the 12-man squad.

The Bahrainis have been handed a challenging Pool C assignment in the 12-team tournament, which will be played at the 15,000-capacity Aichi International Arena.

Subotic’s men begin against defending champions the Philippines on Friday at 1pm before taking on China on Saturday at 10am and Kazakhstan on September 14 at 4pm. All times are Bahrain.

Pool A features Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, while Iran, Jordan, Chinese Taipei and Qatar make up Pool B.

Bahrain Basketball Association vice-president Nader Al Awadhi heads the delegation, which also includes team manager Mohammed Al Omani and administrator Moosa Jaffar. Subotic is assisted by Leon Subotic and Ahmed Aziz, with Jasim Mohammed serving as fitness coach and Ebrahim Jawhar as physiotherapist.

The basketball squad join a sizeable Bahrain contingent already confirmed for the Games. Said Sadrudin, Askerbii Gerbekov, Ruslan Poltoratskii, Mukhamed Aliev, Gadzhidavd Gasanov, Israpil Sagaipov and Sukhrob Boiev will compete in men’s judo, while Ahmed Madan and Ahmed Naser have been selected for men’s cycling.

Maryam Hassani, Maryam wa Bu Araki, Shaikh Khalifa Al Khalifa, Tammar Alwatt and Saeed Hassan will represent the kingdom in shooting, with Almuhtadi Ali, Ahmed Almulla, Ahmed Tazhudinov and Albeg Alibego named for men’s wrestling.

Fatema Kalawadh and Ola Alalawi will compete in women’s taekwondo, FaraJ and Abdulla Aishaikhn in men’s esports, and Ahmed Naser in men’s badminton.

The esports contingent features Mohamed Hujairi, Fadhel Taher, Hassan Ebrahim, Hussain Al Ansari, Mohammed Darbas and Youssef Bahram.

"I believe in big support from Bahraini people. Bahraini people deserve to be happy."

Two-time Asian Games run from September 19 to October 4, with athletes from 45 nations set to compete across 469 medal events in 43 sports.