BASKETBALL – Bahrain's final 12-player roster for the Fiba U16 Asia Cup 2025 was announced yesterday by tournament organisers.
The prestigious competition is scheduled to tip off today in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, with the Bahrainis one of 16 youth men’s basketball national teams from across the continent taking part.
The kingdom’s side are reigning Arab and Gulf champions and they will be looking to add an Asian title to their recent achievements.
The Bahrainis had earlier this month secured the crown in the 22nd U16 Arab Basketball Championship for Youth in Cairo, Egypt, after winning the Fiba U16 Asia Cup Gulf Basketball Association (GBA) Qualifiers 2025, held in the kingdom last July.
The Bahrain squad is set to be spearheaded by the trio of Arab championship Most Valuable Player Somto Patrick Onoduenyi, Divine Tochukwu Abochi, and Hassan Abdulkadir.
They will be ably assisted by teammates Hussain Ahmed Madan, Ali Husain Mohamed, Mohamed Adel Abdulla, Ali Al Haddad, Mohamed Mahmood Farhan, Yousif Yaqoob Meshaei, Hasan Ruyan, Hussain Fuad Ghuloom, and Ali Khalil Habib.
The nationals are coached by Tunisian tactician Racem Marzougui, who helped orchestrate their two regional successes.
Bahrain open their campaign today morning in Group A of the tournament’s preliminary round. They are scheduled to take on powerhouses and defending champions Australia at 6.30am.
They then play their second game tomorrow against Lebanon at 9am, before completing their schedule in this stage against India on Tuesday at 9am. All times are Bahrain.
Group B is composed of New Zealand, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and Indonesia; Group C features China, South Korea, Malaysia, and hosts Mongolia; and Group D comprises Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia, who are the other GBA side in the event.
After a single round-robin, the four group winners will move on directly to the quarter-finals, while the teams ranked second and third in each pool will play in a play-off round on Thursday.
The four victors from that elimination phase will complete the cast in the elite eight, which will take place on Friday.
The semi-finals are then scheduled for Saturday, to be followed by the gold and bronze medal games on Sunday next week.
Classification contests will also be held on the tournament’s last two days.
The Fiba U16 Asia Cup 2025, which is in its eighth edition, also acts as a qualifier for the Fiba U17 Basketball World Cup 2026, which will be held in Türkiye.
The top four teams from Ulaanbaatar will earn their berths in Istanbul.
Bahrain are playing in the Fiba U16 Asia Cup for the sixth time and for its third straight edition.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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