The basketball team opens “Dubai International” against “Strong Group”

The draw for the Dubai International Basketball Championship resulted in a confrontation between the Philippine National Team and the Strong Group in the opening of the 34th edition, scheduled to begin next Friday, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, and extending until the second of next February, with the participation of 10 players. The elite clubs and teams of Asia and Africa.

This came in the press conference, yesterday, to announce the details of the tournament, and it included the draw ceremony that placed the national team in the first group, next to the Philippine “Strong Group”, the Lebanese “Beirut”, the Jordanian Amman Federation, and the Emirati Al-Nasr, while the newcomer “Zamboanga Valterrez” came from the Philippines. At the head of the second group, which includes Al-Hikma of Lebanon, Al-Ahly of Tripoli of Libya, the Tunisian national team, and Al-Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates.

The draw ceremony was attended by the President of the UAE and Arab Basketball Federations, Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee of the Championship, Major General Ismail Al Gergawi, members of the committee, the Federation’s Board of Directors, and representatives of the sponsoring companies.

The tournament will be held in its preliminary round in a group league system, with the results determining the top four positions from each group, which will qualify for the quarter-finals, which begins on January 31.

For his part, the technical director of the national team, Dr. Mounir bin Al-Habib, told Emirates Al-Youm: “The draw serves the team in terms of the diversity of schools included in the group, in addition to the level of clubs that is similar in terms of playing style and strength to those that (Al-Abyad) will meet in His two fateful confrontations on February 22 and 25 in the third window of the final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2025 Asian Cup.

He added: “The technical staff is not focusing on the opening match of Strong Group, as much as it is focusing on the rest of its matches in the group that includes the Ittihad Amman team, which includes mostly members of the Jordanian team, and is similar in level to its counterpart, the Syrian team, in addition to the Beirut team, which in turn includes the best elements.” The Lebanese team that we will meet at the end of our matches in the Asian qualifiers.”

He explained: “The Dubai Championship, in terms of its schedule, strength and level of matches, represents an important preparation station for the confrontations between Syria and Lebanon, during which we hope to preserve the team’s hopes of competing for the qualifying cards for the Asian Cup, in addition to enhancing the chances of (Al-Abyad) returning to the classification level (A). The only one that allows the continent’s teams to participate in the Asian tournaments and compete for qualifying tickets to the World Cup tournaments.”

. The draw serves the national team in terms of the diversity of schools included in the group.