Qatar to play Kuwait in first match of GCC U18 Basketball Tournament

DOHA: Qatar national basketball team will start their journey at the GCC U18 Basketball Tournament, a qualifier for the Asian Cup finals, by meeting the Kuwaiti team at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow.

The tournament, which is being hosted by Kuwait at the Federation Hall at the Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Complex in Sabah Al Salem from July 29 to August 2, involves the participation of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. The UAE has withdrawn from the competition.

The Qatari team will play their second match against the Saudi team at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, before meeting Oman the next day at 5:00 p.m. They will conclude their matches against Bahrain at 5:00 p.m. on August 2.

Ahead of the tournament, the Qatari team participated in a three-week training camp in Istanbul, Turkey, during which they played eight friendly matches against Turkish U18 teams, in addition to the Azerbaijan U18 team.

The champions and runners-up from the tournament will complete the roster of 16 teams that will participate in the Asian Cup finals scheduled to be held in Amman, Jordan, from September 2 to 9.

Nasser Ajlan Al Kaabi, Assistant Secretary of the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF), is heading the team’s delegation, which includes Khalid Al Mughni, Director of National Teams for Age Groups, Nasser Rashid Al Kaabi, Team Manager, Greek Stavros Mikoniatis, Technical Director, and his assistant Mohammed Orabi, in addition to 12 players.