A resurgent Bahrain take on hosts Kazakhstan today in the last Group D match for both teams in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers’ first round at the 10,000-seater Saryarka Velodrome in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan.
Bahrain, under a new coach and featuring several new faces, will fancy their chances of causing another upset after their stunning, against-all-odds, 76-67 victory over Syria in front of a large Syrian home crowd in Aleppo just last Friday.
But history and form are firmly in group leaders, Kazakhstan’s favour. Bahrain, who have a very slim hope of qualification after having lost their first four games before their win in Syria, will have to defeat the hosts and hope that Syria lose to Iran in their last match, which also takes place today.
The top three teams from each group qualify for the next round.
Kazakhstan, on the other hand, would like to enter the second round, with their group-stage winning streak intact, having won all five of their previous matches, including the last one 68-60, against second-placed Iran, also last Friday.
Meanwhile, buoyed by their stellar performance against Syria, Bahrain will be looking to avenge their comprehensive defeat by the Kazakhs in the kingdom last February when the visitors handed out a 95-48 drubbing to the home team, much to the dismay of local fans.
They will also, doubtless, rely again on their American-Bahraini talisman, Devon Dwayne Chism, who starred in their famous win over Syria with 20 points and was described by his coach as the MVP in that game.
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