Victorious Qatar team gets heroes' welcome
Date
7/26/2016 3:36:23 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) Executive Director Saadoun Al Kuwari with Qatar team, winners of the FIBA 3x3 U-18 Asian Champions on arrival at the Hamad International Airport in Doha yesterday. The Qatari team received a warm welcome by the QBF officials and well-wishers. Picture by: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula
Armstrong Vas
Doha: Qatar development programme in basketball are paying off, says the Qatar Basketball Federation (QBF) Executive Director Saadoun Al Kuwari.
Speaking on the sidelines at the Hamad International Airport during the function to welcome the victorious Qatar team which won the Asian under-18 men";s 3x3 title Al Kuwari said the Marrons having won three basketball titles this season will not rest on their laurels but aim to win more titles next season.
'We had started a development programme, devised by QBF President Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani";s, some time back. Now we have a strong base. We";ve more under-18 players and I";m confident that we can prepare ourselves for the future senior world championships through this talent bank,” said Al Kuwari.
A host of officials were on hand at the airport to welcome the team with garlands. The title at Selangor, Malaysia was the third title for the Qatari team having won the GCC crown and World Championships earlier.
In the final at Selangor, Malaysia, they defeated the Philippines, the second seeds, 21-9 to emerge the champions. He commented: 'This title means a lot for us. We are able to establish ourselves as a force in the 3x3 version. We own the senior World title. Our junior players did us proud by claiming the GCC crown and it was followed by the success in the World Under-18 Championship and now the Asian U18.
'At the QBF, we";re really working well and hard under our President Sheikh Saoud vision. As a result, we";ve achieved so much in such a short time. But let me tell you, there is more to come and we will keep working with total dedication in pursuit of more such successes,” said Al Kuwari.
Qatar team captain Nedim Muslic was delighted with the win.
'Feeling very good after winning the Asian under-18 title. We were under intense pressure. It was quite challenging event as you know we were coming off the World championships victory in Kazakhstan.
'We believed in the team and we knew if we could stick around, we could get through this as well. The world championships were of course much harder than this as there were strong teams from the Europe and Americas. But being the world champions was some advantage for us too. We respected our rivals in the Asians and just kept playing to our potential,” he added.
'We were focused and continued to play tougher as the event progresses. We won all the seven matches that we played. In the pool phase, we faced some resistance from Japan. We were a bit out of our game. However, we found the solutions and won that game before topping the pool. In the knock-out, we were however in full flow and went on to beat the Philippines in the final to win the title.”
The Peninsula