Al-Wahda basketball team returns to participate in the Arab championships after an absence of 26 years, and joined the Sharjah and Al-Bataeh teams participating in the 36th edition of the tournament, which begins today in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, and extends until October 12.
The head of the sports company at Al Wahda Club, and the head of the team’s delegation to the Alexandria Championship, Obaid Muftah, told Emirates Today: “We are happy to return to the Arab Championships after their last appearance in the 12th edition in 1998, which was held in Beirut, during which Al Wahda ranked fourth.”
He added: “The team will achieve many gains, because it participates with young members of the club’s members. Muhammad Aouni, Rashid Masri, Ghaith Al-Suwaidi, Saif Al-Wahabi, Hazza Al-Balushi, Abdullah Khaled, Zayed Al-Muraikhi, Khaled Al-Shehhi, Khalifa Bilal, Sultan Al-Darmaki, Zayed Tariq, and Hussein Omar.”
He concluded: “The team is supported by American professionals Kadeem Jacques and Myron Gordon, in addition to the recent signing of Algerian national team star Thami Ghazoul, and the assistance of Al-Wasl players Rashid Ayman and Khalifa Ibrahim.”
In a related context, the Sharjah and Al-Bataeh teams completed contracts with Arab professionals, with Libyan Sufyan Jumanji joining the ranks of “The King” and Ghaith Al-Rahman to the ranks of “Al-Raqi”, as the tournament system in its current version stipulates the presence of an Arab professional in the team’s ranks alongside foreign professionals.
It is noteworthy that the Sharjah team is the only team in the country that has previously won the Arab Club Championship title, and that was in the 2011 edition that was held in the Emirates, under the leadership of its current coach and the dean of basketball coaches in the country, Abdul Hamid Ibrahim.
Re-drawing the lottery… Sharjah and Al-Bataeh in one group
Yesterday, the draw was repeated after the withdrawal of Beirut and the Lebanese Antoni, the Moroccan Salé, and the Algerian Taraji Draria, so that the results of the new draw resulted in Sharjah and Al Bataeh falling into the first group, next to the hosts Al Ittihad of Alexandria, Smouha of Egypt, Al Arabi of Qatar and Kazma of Kuwait, while unity came in the group. Second, alongside Sporting of Egypt, Al-Gharafa of Qatar, Al-Qadisiyah of Kuwait, Al-Seeb of Oman, and Shaab Hadramaut of Yemen.
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