Salalah Club reaches semi-finals despite Al Qurain defeat

Muscat, August 25

Salalah Club qualified for the semi-finals of the Fatima bint Mubarak Gulf Women’s Basketball Cup held in Abu Dhabi. Salalah will face Al Gharafa Club, which qualified as the second in the group after achieving two wins and suffering a loss.

The second match in the semi-final will bring together Fatima Club and Al Qurain Team.

In their last group stage match, Salalah lost to Al Qurain in the third game of the group stage. In the first quarter, Kuwaiti Al Qurain Team started the match strongly, achieving a big lead with a score of 21-6.

Mashael Al Marzouqi excelled in the attack, as she scored many points, and she was joined in the performance by Hanin Al Sulayli, who added many decisive points, in addition to Maryam Ali, who also contributed effectively to scoring points.

On the other hand, Salalah Club players, Shams Al Duha and Ghadeer Ismail, tried to confront the Kuwaiti attack and score some points for their team, but the superiority was in favour of Al Qurain.

In the second quarter, the Kuwaiti Al Qurain team continued to dominate the match, as this quarter ended with the team leading 35-15. Salalah players tried to perform better during this quarter, but the strong defences of Al Qurain team prevented them from reducing the difference significantly.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Salalah Club players tried to reduce the difference through several attacks, but Al Qurain team’s defense was strong. Sheikha al Dallamah scored two additional points after stealing a rebound, followed by Ayat al Tawhid with two more points, which increased Al Qurain’s lead to 39-19. After exchanging opportunities, despite Shams Al Ghanji and Zeina Batash’s attempts to reduce the difference, the quarter ended with Al Qurain’s clear lead with a score of 47-22.

In the final quarter, Zena Batash opened the scoring for Salalah, but Al Qurain's player, Mashaal al Marzouqi, quickly responded by scoring four consecutive points, bringing the score to 51-23.

Despite Salalah's efforts to come back into the game, including a three-pointer by Shams Al Duha and additional points from Fatima al Naamani, Al Qurain managed to maintain their lead and added 12 more points.

On the other hand, Salalah's players struggled to break through the opponent's defenses, resulting in a well-deserved victory for Al Qurain with a final score of 64-31.