Doha – Qatar’s reserve national basketball team is set to learn its group stage opponents on Monday, July 21, 2025, when the draw for the 26th edition of the Arab Men’s Basketball Championship takes place at the headquarters of the Arab Basketball Federation in Cairo, Egypt.
The tournament will be hosted by the Kingdom of Bahrain from July 25 to August 2, 2025, with the participation of Qatar, Bahrain (hosts), the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Libya, and Palestine.
Qatar recently concluded its participation in the 44th William Jones International Basketball Tournament in Taipei, Taiwan, with a 52–73 loss to Malaysia. The quarter scores were 16–20, 15–19, 12–16, and 9–18, leaving the team with a final tally of 8 points.
The William Jones Tournament featured strong teams from Japan, Australia, Bahrain, the UAE, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei A and B teams, and the Philippines' Strong Group. This provided Qatar’s reserve team with valuable international experience and a chance to assess player readiness.
The Qatari delegation to the tournament was headed by Mr. Meshal Abdullah Al Malki, a member of the Qatar Basketball Federation’s Board of Directors. The 13-player squad included: Abdullah Yassin, Owen Ekena Amah, Raslan Rashid Al Abdullah, Mubarak Rashid Jama, Mohammed Saeed Badri, Osama Abdel Nasser, Tamim Abu Issa, Azzam Mohammed, Mohammed Ahmed, Mahmoud Deeb, Issa Alert, Hamza Al-Attar, and Dejan Janic.
This tournament marked an important preparation phase ahead of the 26th Arab Men’s Championship in Manama — anticipated to be one of the strongest editions yet, given the closely matched levels and competitive histories of the participating teams.
It’s worth noting that Bahrain was officially awarded the hosting rights after Tunisia withdrew from organizing the event. This will mark the first time Bahrain hosts the Arab Men’s Championship since the tournament’s inception in 1974.