Kuwait’s Asian Cup qualification bid hit by opening loss

Kuwaiti player drives the ball during Kuwait opening match against Oman.

DOHA, July 26: Kuwait’s youth basketball team opened its campaign in the Gulf Championship qualifiers for the Asian Cup finals with a 62-59 defeat against Oman. The match was played the day before yesterday as part of the tournament being held in Doha, Qatar, and running until July 30.

In the other opening-round match, Bahrain defeated Saudi Arabia 62-54 in a tournament that holds great importance, as it awards two qualification spots for the Asian Youth Championship finals, scheduled to take place in Hyderabad, India, later this year.

Kuwait will meet Qatar today at 6:00 p.m., while Oman takes on Bahrain.

The tournament is being played in a single round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the Asian finals. The opening defeat has made Kuwait’s qualification mission more difficult in the race for one of the two spots, given the strength of the participating teams and their closely matched levels.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff