BASKETBALL – BAHRAIN’S Somto Patrick Onoduenyi and Hussien Fouad both came away with top individual awards in the 22nd U16 Arab Basketball Championship for Youth in Cairo, Egypt.
Onoduenyi and Fouad were instrumental in helping spearhead the kingdom’s youth national team to their historic first-ever title in the tournament’s history.
Onoduenyi was named the competition’s Most Valuable Player while Fouad came away with the Best Three-Point Shooter honour. They were both presented with trophies for their performances during the awarding and closing ceremony, attended by Arab Basketball Confederation (ABC) officials and Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) director Abed Al Ansari.
The Bahrainis secured their crown with a resounding 81-63 victory over Algeria in the gold medal game on Sunday night. They completed the tournament with an undefeated record, winning all five of their assignments in the preliminary round – including four straight routs against Qatar, Algeria, Kuwait, and Tunisia, which they followed with a single-digit victory against Egypt – on the way to capturing the gold medals in the final.
Bahrain’s maiden Arab youth title continued their recent sensational run as it adds to their championship from the Fiba U16 Asia Cup Gulf Basketball Association Qualifiers 2025, which they clinched last month at home.
The Arab and Gulf champions are scheduled to return to the kingdom today morning, and they are expected to receive a hero’s welcome upon touching down at Bahrain International Airport.
Their success is a result of the pioneering initiative launched by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa with the Khalid Bin Hamad Golden Generation League, which aims to discover and hone young talent from across the kingdom.
Commenting on the occasion, BBA board member Mohammed Abdulsamad expressed his pride in winning the Arab title, which he stressed is a fruit of the support of the wise leadership. He highlighted that the team’s players showed their true dedication to raising the kingdom’s flag high in a major Arab event, and noted that it will give the team a boost to further raise their efforts in future competitions.
This year’s U16 Arab Basketball Championship for Youth was organised and run by the ABC, in cooperation with the Egyptian Basketball Federation.
Following their Arab campaign, the Bahrainis will now shift their focus to an even tougher test at the Fiba U16 Asia Cup 2025, to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, next month.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))