BASKETBALL – THE men’s basketball tournament at the fourth GCC Games in Doha, Qatar that was scheduled for later this month has been cancelled.
This was confirmed last night by a Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) official, who said that the decision was made due to one of the four participating teams pulling out – leaving a field of just three nations, which does not meet the requirement to hold the competition.
Basketball was one of 19 sports set to be a part of the multi-sport meeting. The Bahrainis were set to take on their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and hosts Qatar.
It is understood, however, that games in 3x3 basketball will still be going ahead as planned.
Bahrain were set to field teams in both sports, with the senior men’s squad going for gold in the 5x5 event and both senior men’s and women’s teams taking part in 3x3.
The Bahrainis had already begun gearing up for their participation under the supervision of Greek head coach Georgios Vovoras and his staff.
They had been practicing with a squad that included Ahmed Salman, Ahmed Alderazi, Mohammed Buallay, Ali Jaber, Ahmed Bindayneh, Mahmood Abbas Isa, Mohammed Juma’a, Ali Hussain, Emran Ashkanani, Nader Ali, Hassan Ghareeb, Mohammed Ghazi, Mohammed Sami, Nader Shaker, and Hassan Fahad, along with recently signed import Eric Rashard Buckner to bolster their roster.
Despite no longer competing in the GCC Games, set to be held from May 11 to 22 in the Qatari capital, the nationals still have a busy 2026 ahead.
They are also scheduled to compete in the first round of pre-qualifiers for the Fiba Asia Cup 2029, to be held in Dubai, the UAE, from August 24 to September 1.
The nationals will then go up against the continent’s best in the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4; and then, if qualified, will compete in the second round of Fiba Asia Cup 2029 pre-qualifiers, scheduled from November 23 to December 1 at a yet-to-be-determined host venue.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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