“The King” launches today the campaign to defend its title in the Sharjah International Basketball Championship

At five o’clock this afternoon, the Sharjah Club basketball team will launch its campaign to defend its title in the “Sharjah International Championship”, by meeting Al Fateh of Saudi Arabia, in a match held for the second group, in the opening of the group stage of the championship held in its fifth edition in the Al Bataeh Club Hall, and extending until the 10th of this September, with the participation of six teams.

The opening round, for Group 1, will see Al Bataeh face off against Dijlah of Iraq, in a match that will kick off at 7 pm.

The tournament draw resulted in placing the host, Al Bataeh, in Group One, which also includes Al Arabi of Kuwait and Dijlah of Iraq, while the title holder, Al Sharjah, was placed in Group Two, alongside Al Fateh of Saudi Arabia and Hoops of Lebanon.

The tournament system stipulates that the preliminary round will be held in a single-stage group stage, with the results resulting in the leaders of the two groups qualifying directly to the semi-finals, while the second and third place teams in the two groups will play in the quarter-finals, which will determine the identity of the two teams completing the semi-finals, which will be held on September 9.

Sharjah team coach, Abdul Hamid Ibrahim, confirmed in statements to “Emarat Al Youm” that “Sharjah enters the tournament days after the team’s good participation in the Al Dhafra International Championship, during which we sought to find more elements of harmony between the players, especially with the foreign professionals.”

He explained, “The presence of such international championships, the experiences of friction and the strength of the participating names, whether in the Al Dhafra International or the Sharjah Championship, represents the best preparation for the local season that begins in the middle of this month.”

It is worth noting that Sharjah team achieved its second title in the “Sharjah International Basketball Championship” last February, by winning the final match against the Lebanese “Antoni” team, knowing that the “King’s” first title in its international championship came in the second edition in 2014, by winning the final against the Egyptian “Al-Jazira”.