KUWAIT: Bahrain Basketball team beat its Qatari counterpart 69-62 during their match within the 16th Gulf championship being held in Kuwait. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia beat UAE's 81-67. With this win, Bahrain tops the list with 4 points, followed by Saudi Arabia 3 points, Kuwait and UAE with 2 points each and finally Qatar with one point.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's team will play against UAE, while Qatar play with Saudi Arabia.
The tournament follows the league system of one meeting for all teams, then the team that ends in first place will meet the one in fourth, and the second place team will meet the third place team in the semi-final, then the winners will play the final match.


In the first match, Bahrain had a 17-0 run against Qatar through fast breaks and mistakes committed by the Qatari players as the quarter ended with the score of 22-6 for Bahrain. Qatar closed the gap in the second quarter, then Bahrain returned to its form and ended the third quarter 51-42, and ended the match in the fourth quarter winning 69-62.


The second match between Saudi Arabia and UAE saw the Saudi's beating UAE 81-67, as the first quarter saw UAE going 16-4, but the Saudi coach was able with alternating players ending the first quarter 22-21. Then the Saudi team had control of the match through strong defense and ended the quarter for Saudi Arabia 46-32. The Saudi team continued its control ending the match 81-67.


Head of the Saudi delegation Mustafa Al-Qabaly lauded the performance of his players, as they put the loss in front of Kuwait behind them. He said his team seeks to compete for the title, adding that the teams are close in their levels.


Qatar's head of Basketball Federation Ahmad Al-Muftah lauded the organization, adding that we are happy to be in Kuwait and wish the event all success, as Kuwait returns after years of absence due to the suspension.
He said Qatar lost in front Bahrain due to bad performance in the first quarter, meanwhile the Bahraini team was highly organized. He said "we hope to get over the loss and come back in front of Saudi Arabia to make up for the loss, as we are here to compete for the title.

By Abdellatif Sharaa'