Sharjah to compete in International Basketball Championship

The championship is held under the patronage of Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairman of the Sharjah Executive Council.

The teams have been divided into two groups. Sharjah is in Group B along with Al-Fateh of Saudi Arabia and Hoops of Lebanon, while Group A includes Al-Batayeh of the UAE, Al-Arabi of Kuwait, and Dijla University of Iraq.

This edition of the Sharjah International Basketball Championship will be played in three phases: first, the group stage with a single round-robin format to determine rankings. The top teams from each group will advance directly to the semifinals. The second and third-place teams from each group will compete to determine the remaining semifinal spots. The two winning teams will move to the finals, while the losing teams will play for rankings from third to sixth.

Mohammed Obaid Al-Hassan, member of the Sharjah Club Board of Directors and head of the Group Games Department, emphasised the club’s commitment to supporting any event on the Sharjah Sports Council’s agenda, whether friendly or official. He noted that the Sharjah International Basketball Championship has gained significant importance both technically and promotional-wise for all participating clubs and for the sport in the emirate.

Al-Hassan added, “We have strengthened our men's team with several new signings, including three professional players and two international citizen players, under the guidance of our experienced coach Abdulhamid Ibrahim. We hope the team will achieve the required levels of performance and cohesion during the preparation period to meet its goals for this season.”

The participation of the Sharjah men's team in the championship is part of their preparations for the 2024-2025 sports season, which begins on September 15 with the Cup competition, followed by the start of the league on October 4.

Sharjah has previously won the cup twice: the first was against Al-Jazeera of Egypt in the second edition in February 2014, and the second was last season against Al-Anthony of Lebanon in the fourth edition in March 2023.