Qatar, Kuwait complete FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 cast

Posted by Admin July 21, 2024 Basketball

KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait) – Kuwait and Qatar completed the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 cast after topping the GBA Qualifiers.

The two secured their qualification with a day to spare in the tournament, which was held at the Shaikh Saad Alabdullah Sport Hall Complex in the Kuwaiti capital.

Qatar, with its youth movement aimed at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 – an event they will be hosting – and beyond, clinched the title. They achieved this through convincing victories over Kuwait (79-60), Saudi Arabia (86-76), and Oman (111-57).

In doing so, the team has also given itself a chance to better its 8th-place finish from the previous U18 Asia Cup.

Yassin Mousa and Mohamed Ndao, who were both part of Qatar senior men’s team that competed in Window 1 of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers last February, led the youth squad’s charge in the GBA Qualifiers with 25.3 and 19.7 points, respectively.

The Kuwaitis, on the other hand, secured a runner-up finish with a 2-1 record, with the pair of victories coming at the expense of Bahrain (85-66) and Saudi Arabia (80-52).

It will be the country’s first trip to the biennial competition since 2014.

Qatar and Kuwait are now bound for the 2024 U18 Asia Cup along with the teams from the other Sub-Zone Qualifiers held in the past few weeks, namely India (SABA), Kazakhstan (CABA), WABA teams Iran, Lebanon, and hosts Jordan, and SEABA sides Philippines and Indonesia.

They will be joining defending champions Korea and other East Asian teams in Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, and Mongolia, as well as Australia and New Zealand after the two went 1-2 in the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship 2023.

The FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 is set on September 2-9 in Amman, Jordan.