TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Last night, Bahrain’s Manama Club defeated Qatar’s Al Shamal 108-71 in the 2023/2024 FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL). The match took place at the Zain Basketball Arena in Umm Al Hassam and was Manama’s second match in Group B of the Gulf Subzone in the WASL Qualifying Round.
The defending champions took control from the start, taking a lead of as much as 38 points. Therefore, they remain undefeated as they continue their quest to repeat as WASL title winners. Ahmed Salman led Manama with 24 points, including six 3-pointers.
Travin Thibodeau had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Mustafa Hussein had 19 points and five triples. Tony Farmer scored 17 points in the win, while Sir Dominic Pointer scored 11 points. Tyler James Lee Harris was Shamal’s leading scorer with 20 points, and Uche Irogbu added 18 points in the loss. 0
Manama led 26-10 at the end of the first quarter and held a 44-30 lead at halftime. After three games, Bahrain increased their advantage to 71-44 and cruised in the final canto for a big win.
Manama and Shamal are in the same pool as Dubai’s Shabab Al Ahly and Kuwait’s Kazma. The Bahrain national champion will return in two weeks and face Shabab Al Ahly in the UAE on December 18th, before facing Kazma in Kuwait City on January 15th next year.
They will then face Shamal again in Doha on February 5th and complete this phase of the tournament on February 13th at home against Shabab Al Ahli. Manama is in Group A of this year’s FIBA WASL tournament, along with Bahrain’s fellow Bahrain team Muharraq.
Muharraq will face Kuwait’s Kuwait Sports Club, Qatar’s Al Rayan and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahly. Muharraq won one of his first two matches and will return to action next Tuesday against Rayan in Doha. That is the third game of the group stage.
They will then face Kuwait in Kuwait City on January 8 next year, face Ahli in Jeddah on January 30, and finish this stage on February 12 at home against Rayan. The competitive format for the second season of FIBA WASL remains the same. The top three teams at the end of the WASL Gulf Subzone League and WASL West Asia Subzone League will qualify for the Final 8.
There, champion teams from South Asia and Central Asia will join and compete for the right to be the cage king of the region. Prior to the Final 8, each subzone league will be divided into two groups of four teams, with the top seeds at the end of the opening phase of the round robin qualifying directly for the best-of-three semifinals. The 2nd place and his 3rd place teams will compete for his 4 remaining spots, and he will also face off in a best of 3 match.