Muscat: Oman's under-18 basketball team has begun training in Kuwait to prepare for the Gulf Youth Under-18 Championship, which will be held in Kuwait from July 27 to August 3. The camp will continue until July 26, and the team was seen off at Muscat Airport by Eng Khalfan bin Saleh al Naabi, Chairman of the Oman Basketball Association (OBA).
The team's consists of 12 players: Qasi al Amri, Qaisar al Balushi, Mashaal Qafqaf, Mahab al Hambasi, Akram al Rashidi, Mazen al Awisi, Mohammad al Raisi, Al Walid al Mawali, Azad al Bahlawi, Azzan al Ajmi, Abdulrahman al Mamry, and Ahmed al Balushi. Technical staff include team manager Ghassan al Busaidi, coach Zuhair al Ayashi, and his assistant Saif Al Toobi.
Khalfan al Naabi said, "The Kuwait camp comes as part of the plan adopted by the technical staff to complete the team's readiness for the Gulf Youth Under-18 Championship. The association is keen to ensure the team's participation in the championship, and the Kuwait camp is an incentive for the players and the staff to bring the team to the level that enables it to compete in the championship. We strive to achieve better results than previous participation".
Al Naabi added: "We are working to provide the appropriate environment for preparation within the available capabilities by organising internal and external camps. Despite most players busy with study and exams, we held a camp during the past three weeks at the Nizwa Sports Complex. The Federation provided all available capabilities to achieve the goals of this camp, and I commend the efforts of the technical staff led by Tunisian coach Zuhair al Ayashi and his national assistant for their great efforts during the past short period, which witnessed intensive training, and the team played some friendly matches with the clubs."
Al Ayashi stressed the importance of the Kuwait camp, saying "The camp is important and comes within the framework of the technical plan in preparation for the Gulf Championship. We started the camp on June 22 in the Nizwa Sports Complex with 9 players, while the rest were absent due to high school exams. The camp provided all the appropriate conditions after the Association and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth provided and installed the legal wooden court. The rest of the team's players joined the training after two weeks, and the training continued for three weeks during which we played four friendly matches with Nizwa and Al Bushra, which was a good experience that allowed us to evaluate the players' level and correct mistakes. The level of the team's players is improving from one match to another in both offensive and defensive terms."
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