BASKETBALL – MANAMA and Al Ahli tip off their all-Bahraini play-off series for a berth in the Gulf sub-zone semi-finals of the 2024-25 Fiba West Asia Super League (WASL) early next month.
The schedule for the highly anticipated match-up was released yesterday by the Fiba Regional Office-Asia, with Manama and Ahli set to engage in a thrilling best-of-three battle.
The bitter rivals in Bahraini basketball will take to the hardwood for game one on February 3. They then play game two on February 10, while game three, if needed, will be held on March 3.
The winners of their head-to-head will move on to the WASL Gulf last four where they will take on Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE in another best-of-three series. That will get underway with game one on March 10, after which game two will be on March 17. A third game, if required, will be held on March 24.
Aside from the Manama-Ahli match-up, another Gulf play-off will take place between Kuwait SC of Kuwait and Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia. Their first game will be on February 4, after which the second will be on February 11. Game three is set for March 4.
The winners of the Kuwait-Ittihad battle will take on Al Qadsia, also of Kuwait, in their semi-final affair. Games one through three will be on March 11, 18, and 25.
Shabab Al Ahli and Qadsia earned their automatic berths in the final four after topping their respective groups in the preliminary round.
Shabab Al Ahli were first in Group A, where Ahli finished third, while Qadsia were top in Group B, with Manama taking second spot.
The winners of the two semi-finals will then meet in the WASL Gulf championship series in another best-of-three clash, set for April 8, 15, and 22. The losers in the semis will play for third place on April 7.
The top three teams from WASL Gulf sub-zone as well as the WASL West Asia sub-zone will qualify for the Fiba WASL Final Eight. There, they will be joined by the champions of South and Central Asia to determine this season’s overall WASL champions.
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