Kuwait faces urgent review after poor performance at the Arab Basketball Championship
Kuwait's squad featured many young players competing at this level for the first time. Injuries to key players Adel Al-Saeed and Hussein Ashkanani also affected the team's performance. However, these factors do not fully explain the disappointing results and overall low standard of play.
Most other teams participated with reserve or Olympic squads but still managed to deliver competitive performances and win at least one game. In contrast, Kuwait lost all its matches and failed to show convincing efforts on the court.
The impact of Serbian coach Oliver Kostic and his assistant Khaled Al-Qallaf was noticeably missing, despite hopes for improvement following promising performances in previous international events.
Algeria was crowned champion after beating Egypt 78-70. Tunisia secured second place by defeating Qatar 79-72.
Algeria finished undefeated with six wins, Tunisia came in second, and the UAE earned a notable third place. Bahrain placed fourth, Egypt fifth, Qatar sixth, while Kuwait ended at the bottom of the standings.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab Times
2 hours ago
- Arab Times
Lyles beats Bednarek in 200m showdown, tension boils over at finish line
EUGENE, Ore, Aug 4, (AP): Noah Lyles landed the day's biggest blow on the track, passing Kenny Bednarek for the win, then looking his way to talk some trash. Bednarek's answer was a two-handed shove in the back after the finish line, some more heated words, and a challenge for a rematch that can't come soon enough. U.S. track championships turned physical Sunday, with Lyles and Bednarek getting involved in a shoving and shouting match as they crossed the finish line of a hotly contested 200-meter final at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Lyles reeled in Bednarek and crossed in 19.63 seconds for a .04-second victory that sets up a rematch at world championships, on Sept. 19 in Tokyo. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won the 200 in a personal-best time of 21.84 seconds, while Olympic champion Gabby Thomas had to wait a few anxious moments to see if she earned a spot on the world team. She did as her name popped up in third place. It was a winning weekend for Jefferson-Wooden, who also captured the 100. She will be joined in the 100 at worlds by Richardson, who has an automatic spot as the defending champion. Richardson didn't advance to the final in the 200. The women's 400 hurdles was wide open with Olympic champion and world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone electing to focus on the open 400 ( she won the event Saturday ). Dalilah Muhammad, 35, took control and cruised to the win.
Kuwait Times
21 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
McLaughlin-Levrone, Russell book World Championship berths
EUGENE: Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Masai Russell produced convincing wins at the US trials in Oregon to punch their tickets to the athletics World Championships on Saturday. McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion and golden girl of American track, stormed to victory in the 400m flat as she targets a new world title at Tokyo in September. Russell, the Olympic 100m hurdles champion, was similarly impressive, with a flawless performance delivering victory in 12.22secs at Eugene's Hayward Field. But while Paris Olympics gold medallists McLaughlin-Levrone and Russell delivered, there was an upset in the men's 1,500m, where Olympic champion Cole Hocker finished in third. McLaughlin-Levrone signalled she could well be in the hunt for gold in Tokyo after blasting to victory in 48.90secs, taking the tape ahead of Isabella Whittaker (49.59secs) and Aaliyah Butler in 49.91sec. 'I felt like this is the year I wanted to step out of the box and really push myself in a different way,' McLaughlin-Levrone said of her decision to switch to 400m. 'Obviously it's uncomfortable, but I wanted to commit to it and I'm committed to it. Just excited to see where I can push myself,' she told AFP. Russell, who achieved a breakthrough major title with gold in Paris last year, will be the woman to beat in Tokyo in Saturday's evidence. The 25-year-old executed flawlessly to come home ahead of Grace Stark (12.31) and Alaysha Johnson (12.36). Russell started this season in prime form, clocking a US record 12.17secs in May before an ankle injury threatened to derail her season. However she looked back to her best in Saturday's win. 'I could have shut down my season two months ago when I couldn't walk,' Russell said. 'But I was like 'This is the goal.' 'Winning the Olympics put a little bit more pressure on me. Because I feel I have a standard to uphold. People expect something from the reigning Olympic champion.' Hocker upset A thrilling battle in the men's 1,500m saw Olympic champion Hocker upstaged by Kenyan-born Jonah Koech. Hocker found himself boxed in with 200 to go, and despite a strong finishing kick was unable to reel in Koech and second placed Ethan Strand. Koech won in a time of 3min 30.17sec, ahead of Strand in 3:30.25. Hocker was third in 3:30.37. 'Winning was not the number one priority today, but I'm not gonna lie - it always stinks a little not to,' Hocker said. 'I think if today was a world final, I'd have run that race a lot differently. 'In the back of my head today, above all, above winning was to move on and get top three.' — AFP Elsewhere on Saturday, Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin eased into Sunday's final with a comfortable victory in the heats. Benjamin never looked in danger on his way to winning his heat in 47.45secs, the fastest time of qualifying. In the men's 400m, Jacory Patterson advanced to Tokyo with a win in 44.16secs, the latest milestone of his fairytale journey to elite sprinting. The 25-year-old juggled his athletic career with a job working an overnight shift loading delivery trucks for UPS until recently, working his final shift in June. 'I'm waiting for someone to pinch me,' Patterson said afterwards. 'I don't know, it just feels like a dream.' — AFP
Arab Times
a day ago
- Arab Times
Tough loss for Kuwait against Partizan during Serbia camp
BELGRADE, Aug 3: Kuwait was defeated 5-1 by the Serbian side Partizan in a friendly match played recently during its training camp in Serbia. Al-Rashidi scored the lone goal for Kuwait. The youth team continues daily evening training sessions as part of its preparations for upcoming competitions. The coaching staff is focused on developing all players, boosting fitness levels, and strengthening team chemistry in the coming weeks.
