Ahli Sidab claimed the Youth Basketball League 2022-2023 title after defeating Salalah 62-36 in the final at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher on Wednesday.
Al Seeb won third place after defeating Nizwa 56-28.
The final matches were held under the auspices of Shaikh Ali bin Awad al Raoud, Chairman of Salalah club, and in the presence of Eng Khalfan bin Saleh al Naabi, Chairman of the Oman Basketball Association.
The final started with an advantage for Ahli Sidab, who took the initiative to score and advance.
Mohammad al Raisi earned their first points, and Ahli Sidab added six more through Hassan al Maawali and Al Raisi to lead by eight points. Saeed Matuna led the counter-attack by Salalah. The first quarter ended with Ahli Sidab leading Salalah 10-6.
In the second quarter, Ahli Sidab progressed by scoring 15 points, while Salalah players lacked focus to net only 3 points. The first half ended with Ahli Sidab taking a 25-9 lead.
In the third quarter, Salalah made some progress but could not stop Ahli Sidab who went ahead with a score of 37-20.
In the fourth quarter, Ahli Sidab moved to 49-23. Saeed Matuna led the Salalah fightback, while Ahli Sidab responded with Qusai al Amiri and Atana Sharma. Salalah scored 3 points through Saeed Matuna, and Ahli Sidab responded by scoring two points after a shot from under the basket by Mohammad al Raisi and Salalah managed to score 4 points through Saeed Matuna and Caesar al Balushi.
In the end, Ahli Sidab ended the proceedings with a score of 62-36 to take the trophy.
During the award ceremony, Shaikh Ali al Raoud and Eng Khalfan al Naabi presented the winners’ cup and gold medals to Ahli Sidab. Salalah were handed the second-place cup and silver medals, while Al Seeb received the third-place cup and bronze medals.
In the individual awards, Addul Rahman al Maamari from Al Seeb Club won the award for the most valuable player of the tournament. Best playmaker award went to Faisal al Balushi from Salalah Club. Abdulaziz al Balushi from Ahli Sidab claimed the tournament top-scorer prize and Munther al Mandhari from Al Seeb won the three-point scorer award.
The final was moderated by international referee Rashid al Mushaifari as the first referee, Ali al Salmani as the second referee and Mazen al Hilali as the third referee.
Eng Khalfan al Naabi said: “The tournament was a success and went according to the plans of OBA and appeared at a good level in terms of technical, organisational and refereeing aspects. We thank all the referees who managed the league matches. The overall standard of the tournament was satisfying.”
He pointed out that the setting up of 12 centres for training the youth in a number of clubs, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and with the technical supervision of the federation, is an important and positive matter and contributes significantly to develop the game of basketball and grooming players capable of representing their clubs at different age stages.
“The OBA will launch these centres in the near future. I appreciate the officials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for their confidence in the Oman Basketball Association to implement these centres. We thank the efforts of the clubs participating in the youth championship and the role of their boards of directors in supporting the age stages of the clubs.”
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