Qatar prepare for FIBA Asia Challenge with training camp in Serbia
DOHA (2016 FIBA Asia Challenge) - The Qatari national team is in Serbia for a 10-day training camp as part of their preparations for the GCC Basketball Championship (Gulf Cooperation Council) in Dubai from 28 August-2 September and the FIBA Asia Challenge from 9-18 September in Tehran, Iran.
The Al-Annabi coach Vasileios Fragkias has named his 23-man preliminary roster of the FIBA Asia Challenge, but only 16 of these players travelled with the team to Serbia.
Nine players from the 2015 Asia Championship squad are included in the Greek play-caller's 23-player list, that also includes veteran Malek Salem Abdullah and youngsters Omar Aql, Faisal Abuissa and Nasser Al-Rayes.
| Qatar preliminary squad for FIBA Asia Challenge | |||
| Abdelrahman Yehia Abdelhaleem | Mohamed Abdelkawy | Khaled Abdi | Malek Abdulla |
| Faisal Abuissa | Khalid Adam | Ahmad Al-Darwish | Omar Al-Khanji |
| Abdulrahman Al-Muftah | Nasser Al-Rayes | Omar Aql | Mansour El-Hadary |
| Clinton Finhoir JR III | Dominic James | Abduallah Shaher Matalkeh | Mohamed Hassan Mohamed |
| Mohd Yusuf Mohmmed | Tanguy Ngombo | Abdulrahman Saad | Erfan Ali Saeed |
| Omar Abdelkader Salem | Yassin Haha | Boney Watson | |
“The spirits are high and the boys are motivated. Each and every one of them is working hard on improving their fitness before the major championships later this month,” said Khaled Moughanni, a national team official.
“After the end of the local league, the players were given some time off to rest before reporting to training camp in Doha. The main focus in these camps was to improve their fitness level and familiarise them more to the coach’s philosophy and style of play.”
Qatar will be facing six local teams in Serbia before flying to Cyprus to participate in a friendly international tournament organized by the Cyprus Basketball Federation. There, Qatar will face Germany, Croatia, Ukraine and hosts Cyprus.
“In Serbia and Cyprus the aim is different. There, we want our players to get the experience and taste of competitive games ahead of the upcoming challenges in the Gulf and Asia,” he concluded.
Qatar won the inaugural 2004 FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup (currently named FIBA Asia Challenge) in Chinese Taipei.
The FIBA Asia Challenge will give the Top Five finishers an extra berth for their respective sub-zones in the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup, the new name of the continental FIBA Asia Championship.
FIBA
