OBA appoints Tunisia's Zuhair as head coach

MUSCAT, FEB21

The Oman Basketball Association (OBA) has appointed Tunisian coach Zuhair Sharif al Ayachi as the head coach for the national team for a one-year renewable term.

The immediate assignment for Zuhair will be the preparation for the preliminary qualifiers of the 2025 AFC Asian Cup, which will be held at the end of May and the beginning of June in Qatar.

The contract was signed by the OBA Chairman Engineer Khalfan bin Saleh al Naabi and the Tunisian coach in the presence of Dr Ali bin Salam Al Yarubi, OBA Vice-Chairman and Rabie bin Saeed Awlad Thani, OBA Secretary-General at the headquarters of the Oman Basketball Association.

After the signing the agreement, the OBA chairman addressing a press conference, said that it was agreed to choose a coach from the Arab world.

"We had studied several CVs including some of the best coaches. Tunisian coach Zuhair al Ayachi is a well-known coach with a proven track record. Zuhair expressed his desire to work with the Oman Basketball Association to develop, improve and to build a strong team, whether at the age levels or the first team."

Building the base

Khalfan al Naabi said the main objective for the OBA is to build a solid base for basketball in the country.

"Like everywhere in the world, the game has suffered a lot during the past two years of pandemic situation. The league and the team’s training were suspended."

"Our goal this year is to build a national team that can continue for the coming years, and there are some participations that the team will take part in this year."

"We will come up with a team that can match the Gulf and Arab teams in the coming years."

"Everyone knows the level of basketball in Oman, and it is difficult to set a goal without knowing where we are in basketball and what level we stand at, and therefore the coach must initially stand on the technical level of the players and the general level of the league, and therefore after assessing the situation from the coach will present his plan, to define the main goal for the coming period, the OBA chief added.

The OBA is also looking to increase the number of matches. The OBA league semifinal matches were increased to five rounds, which contributed to raising the technical level of the players and increasing the intensity of competition.

Tunisian coach Zuhair said: “Joining the Oman team will be a new experience in the midst of the technical development witnessed by the Gulf basketball in general. The task requires a lot of efforts especially after the game was stopped for several seasons because of the pandemic and its impact on the technical and physical level of the players."

"We will work hard whether with the first team or with the teams of the age category. I will coordinate with the junior teams.

Zuhair said Oman have good young players who can improve to quality players.

"Observing the league matches, I could see talented young players who could be future national players. We are still in the stage of choosing the most prominent players for the national team. God willing, we will succeed in finding top players for the main team from the upcoming final matches."

"We have to work hard to achieve the goals set by the OBA by reaching an advanced and competitive level," the Oman coach added.