Kuwait Club awaits rivals in WASL finals draw

02/09/2026

KUWAIT CITY, Sept 2: The draw for the West Asia Super League (WASL) finals will be held in Beirut today, with eight clubs set to discover their group-stage opponents for the tournament, which Lebanon will host from September 25 to October 1.

The lineup features Kuwait Club, Lebanese giants Al Riyadi and Al Hikma, Saudi clubs AlUla and Al-Ittihad, Qatar’s Al Arabi, Iran’s Shahrdari and India’s Indian Railways.

The teams have been placed in two seeding pots. Al Riyadi, Al-Ittihad, AlUla, and Shahrdari are in the first pot, while Kuwait Club, Al Arabi, Al Hikma, and Indian Railways make up the second.

The eight clubs will be divided into two groups of four, with the top two finishers in each group advancing to the semifinals.

Kuwait Club will enter the competition with ambitions of challenging for the title after reinforcing its roster with three American players — Shinano Onuaku, Christian Brown, and Dai Dai Granet.

Meanwhile, Mishal Mohammed, director of Kuwait’s national basketball teams and head of the national delegation, praised the players for their efforts during the opening window of the Asian qualifiers, which ended in the UAE on Monday.

Kuwait finished third behind Bahrain and the UAE, with Oman fourth and Nepal fifth, securing its place in the second phase of the qualifiers.

Kuwait has been placed in Group E alongside Bahrain, the UAE, Palestine, Kazakhstan, and Sri Lanka. Group F includes Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Fiji.

Four teams from each group will advance to the Asian finals, where they will join the continent’s eight highest-ranked teams in a 16-team tournament.

Mohammed said Kuwait faced major challenges during its preparations, particularly after players had been away from competitive action since February because of security-related developments in the region. The team also had to cope with the absence of several players for various reasons.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff