BASKETBALL – Bahrain have named their final 12-player squad for the Fiba U18 Asia Cup 2026.
The prestigious 16-nation continental tournament is to be held in Ahmedabad, India, and it gets underway this coming Thursday.
The kingdom’s squad, who are reigning Arab and Gulf champions in their age group, were scheduled to depart last night for Ahmedabad for the final lead-up to the competition.
Bahrain, coached by veteran tactician Salman Ramadhan, are to be spearheaded on the hardwood by their twin towers Somto Patrick Onoduenyi and Hasan Abdulkadir.
They also hope to get key contributions from fearless court general Mahdi Habib Baqer, Mujtaba Mahmood Rayyan, Ali Hussain Mohammed, and Hussain Fuad Sharaf, while their squad is completed by Mohammed Mahmood Farhan, Ali Ayman, Mohammed Adel Abdulla, Ali Khalil Redha, Yousif Yaqoob Meshaei, and Divine Tochukwu Abochi.
Onoduenyi was the Most Valuable Player in their title success at the 23rd Arab Youth Men’s Basketball Championship 2026 in Sfax, Tunisia in July.
He and his teammates then followed that up by being crowned champions in the Gulf Basketball Association U18 Championship 2026 in Doha, Qatar, also last month.
They will now face stiffer competition in the Fiba U18 Asia Cup, where they will be playing in Group B of the championship’s preliminary round alongside basketball giants Lebanon and New Zealand, as well as Syria.
Group A features defending champions Australia, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Group C is composed of China, Iran, Qatar, and Sri Lanka.
Group D includes South Korea, Japan, India, and Kazakhstan.
Bahrain open their campaign against their Lebanese counterparts on Thursday at 2.30pm.
They then play the Kiwis on Saturday at 11.30am before completing pool play against Syria on Monday next week, also at 2.30pm. All times are Bahrain.
The top teams in each of the four groups after a single round-robin book a direct ticket to the quarter-finals.
The teams finishing second and third in each pool, meanwhile, will compete in a play-off round to complete the squads in the elite eight.
This play-in phase is scheduled for August 20.
The quarters will then be held the following day, with the winners of each advancing to the semi-finals set on August 22.
The teams reaching the last four will qualify for the prestigious Fiba U19 Basketball World Cup 2027, which will be held in Pardubice, Czechia from June 26 to July 4 next year.
Classification rounds for fifth through eighth will also be held for this year’s competition, beginning on August 22, featuring the losing teams in the quarter-finals.
The gold medal contest is set for August 23, which will be preceded by the bronze medal game and final classification clashes.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh