Bahrainis set for Qatar event

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national basketball team are set to compete in the Qatar International Basketball Championship later this month.

The tournament will be part of the Bahrainis’ preparations for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, also to tip off this month.

The Doha event will take place February 15 to 18 at Lusail Sports Arena and it will feature six national teams, including hosts Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Central African Republic, and Bahrain.

The nationals will then play their first two games in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers the following week.

Competing in Group F, Bahrain will first host the UAE at home on February 23, before taking on Lebanon on February 26 in Beirut.

In the Qatar International Basketball Championship, the Bahrainis are in Group A for the preliminary round.

They open their campaign against Egypt on February 15, and then face Jordan the following night.

Group B is composed of Qatar, Saudi and Central African Republic. At the end of the single round-robin, the top seeds from each group play in the final, while the second-seeded teams face off for third.

The third seeds battle for fifth overall, with all the final classification contests taking place on February 18.

Qualifiers

Meanwhile, in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, Bahrain’s group also includes Syria, whom they only play for the first time in November later this year.

There are 24 participating nationals teams divided into six groups of four nations each for this first stage of qualification.

These squads will vie for just 16 places at the final tournament.

Games are being played over three windows, the first being held this month, the next in November, and then again in February of 2025.

The top two teams of each group qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 while the six thirdplaced teams will play another qualifying tournament for the final four places.

Group A includes Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Indonesia.

Group B features Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, the Philippines and New Zealand; while Group C comprises China, Guam, Japan and Mongolia.

In Group D are Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia; and Group E are Iran, Kazakhstan, India and Qatar.

The FIBA Asia Cup is the continent’s premier basketball tournament, including teams from FIBA Asia as well as from FIBA Oceania.

Australia are the twotime defending champions.

Bahrain have appeared nine times in the tournament, with their best finish being 10th in the 1997 event.

In the previous edition held in 2022 in Jakarta, the Bahrainis put in a fine showing, losing all three of their games but nearly upsetting continental giants China and South Korea.