Shabab Alahli loses kick-off in the opening finals of the «West Asian Basket»

Shabab Al Ahli lost to Kazakhstan's Astana. Cinematographer: Patrick Castillo

Shabab Al Ahli basketball team lost the kick-off today in the opening matches of Group B of the "Super West - Asia" Championship, against the Kazakh "BC Astana", by seven points and a score of "73-80", which is the tournament hosted by Shabab Al-Ahli until the 17th of this month, and qualifying for the finals of Asian Champions Clubs 2023.

Shabab Al-Ahli is required to win its remaining two matches in the group stage against Kuwait's Kuwait and Iran's Gorgan, to ensure its qualification to the semi-finals, especially since the tournament system requires that qualification for the Golden Square is limited to the leaders and runners-up of the two groups of the first round. Shabab Al Ahli paid the tax of its delay at the end of the first half by 13 points and a score of (36-49) after the Astana players tightened their grip on the results of the first and second quarters by (21-16 and 28-20), especially that the «Dubai Knights» was the best in the course of the second half and succeeded in gaining the advantage with the results of the third and fourth quarters by (17-12 and 20-19), which were not enough for Shabab Al Ahli to return with the result of the match.

The first group matches will start tomorrow, with a single meeting at six and 45 minutes in the afternoon, bringing together the champion of the Lebanese (West Asia) sports region, and the runner-up of the Gulf region Manama Bahrain, in a confrontation that gives the winner the result of booking his seat significantly in the semi-finals, after the group, which also includes the Lebanese Beirut, was limited to three teams due to the withdrawal of the Indian league champion «Chennai Hits».

The sports team and Manama include a constellation of stars, led by the best player in Asia for 2022 Wael Arakji, who defends the colors of the athlete along with his international teammates in the Lebanese national team, the size of Haik Geokchian, Amir Saud, and Ali Mansour.In turn, Manama professional Lamont Jones is expected to continue to shine as one of the team's most prominent keys in terms of attack, along with his American compatriots, Tibodo and Elijah Robinson, in addition to Bahraini internationals Ahmed Haji, Mohammed Hamouda and Mustafa Rashid.