KUWAIT CITY, Dec 30:  In the culmination of the preliminary round of the 25th edition of the Arab Championship held in Cairo, the Kuwaiti basketball team faced defeat against the Emirati team with a score of 83-87 on the final day matches this Saturday. Despite this setback, the Kuwaiti national team secured a significant victory over their Moroccan counterparts with an 88-72 score in a match played the previous day. However, their journey in the preliminary round included losses to the Tunisian team (85-69) and the Egyptian team (92-41).

Despite these challenges, Al-Azraq has successfully qualified for the quarter-finals, where they are set to face the top team in Group A next Monday. Other matches on the final day of the preliminary round saw the Libyan team emerge victorious against Somalia with a score of 81-72, while Algeria triumphed over Mauritania with a score of 70-65.

In earlier matches, the Libyan national team secured a win against Mauritania (94-77), and Algeria overcame Somalia (81-72). The UAE national team experienced a mixed start, losing to Egypt in their first match (94-46) but bouncing back with a victory against Morocco (84-82).

Tunisia claimed victory over Morocco (66-54) on the second day but faced a defeat against Egypt (85-63) on the third day of the tournament. The Arab Championship, featuring nine participating teams, will conclude on the third of January. The quarter-final matches are scheduled for the first of January, followed by the semi-final matches on the second of January. The championship will culminate with the final round matches on the third of January. The Egyptian national team, boasting a historic record with 12 championship victories, last clinched the title in 2017 when the championship was held in Egypt.