Omani cagers head for Egypt training camp

By Our Sports Reporter — MUSCAT — The Oman national basketball team will leave for Egypt today for a training camp ahead of their participation in the GCC Cup Basketball Championship to be hosted in Bahrain later this month. The national squad, who are being coached by Serbian Filip Neven, were given a pep talk by the Oman Basketball Association (OBA) Vice-Chairman Fareed bin Khamis al Zadjali during a dinner hosted on Monday night.

In Egypt, the Omanis will be training in Alexandria till September 28 before flying straight to Bahrain to take part in the GCC championship. During their stay, the team will play as many as six friendly games against local teams. The dates for the friendlies have been tentatively fixed with consecutive matches to be played from September 21. Besides, coach Neven Filip, the Omani delegation will also be accompanied by Hamad al Jufaili. International referee Thani al Khalasi, who will be officiating at the GCC championships, will also travel with the team.

The team picked by the Serbian coach comprises Muammar al Rasbi, Nayeef al Amri, Nooh al Amri, Suhail al Busaidy, Hassan al Faraji, Ammar al Kateri, Khalid al Hashmi, Ashraf al Yaarubi, Faisal al Jamudi, Ali al Sabahi, Mahmood Ambuali, Mohammed al Asmi, Maktoom al Saduni, Said al Saadi and Mohannad al Amrani. In his remarks Fareed al Zadjali said: “The Egypt camp is part of the Oman’s long preparations for the GCC championships and comes after the domestic training sessions.”

He thanked the Ministry of Sports Affairs for their support as well as the administration of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex where the team trained the most part. The GCC championship in Bahrain takes place from September 30 to October 6 with the participation of five teams. Besides Oman and hosts Bahrain, the other participating nations are the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Oman start their campaign against the UAE on September 30 and play their second match against the hosts on October 3. They are scheduled to play Qatar on October 4 before completing their engagements with a match against Saudi Arabia on October 6.