Muscat: The Hassan bin Thabit School team was crowned champions of the first-ever 3x3 school basketball tournament after defeating the team from Al Injaz International Private School in the final, which took second place. Rashid bin Al Waleed School secured third place, while My School Private School finished fourth.
The tournament’s closing ceremony was held under the auspices of Mansour al Siyabi, a member of the
Majlis Ash'shura representing the Wilayat of Bausher, at the indoor hall of Al Amal Sports Club on Thursday. The October 8-10 tournament saw participation from 20 teams representing government, private and international schools.
The tournament was organised by the School and University Sports Department within the Directorate-General of Sports Activities at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth.
On her part, Ziyana al Yahyaei, Director of the Specialised Activities Department at the Directorate-General of Sports Activities at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, stated that the tournament witnessed fierce competition among the participating teams. She expressed her happiness with the strong turnout from schools, noting that the number of schools interested in participating exceeded the hall’s capacity, leading to the early closure of registration, limiting participation to only 20 teams. She added that the tournament includes both male and female categories, with the girls' competition scheduled to take place from October 13 to 15, with 20 teams from schools in Muscat Governorate.
Al Yahyaei also confirmed that there is a plan to expand the tournament to include schools from all governorates. The tournament aims to promote 3x3 basketball among school students and to discover young talents, who can then be incorporated into relevant sports federations and clubs to develop their skills and represent national teams in the future.
Al Yahyaei further noted that over the past 15 years, the Directorate-General of Sports Activities has organised the School Sports Days Programme, aimed at diversifying team and individual sports, encouraging schools to continuously adopt these activities to promote healthy lifestyles among students, and creating a fruitful competitive environment.
The organisation of the tournament was supported by several entities, including the Oman Basketball Association and the Oman School Sports Association, in addition to the Badr Al Sama Group of Hospitals.
The tournament matches were officiated by referees accredited by the Oman Basketball Association. The organising team is currently preparing for the girls' tournament, where the match schedule will be set, and a draw will be conducted to allocate teams into groups.
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