BEIRUT (Lebanon) - The FIBA Regional Office Asia on Wednesday, January 21, has confirmed the pairings and schedule of the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-Gulf League Qualification to Semi-Finals.
The schedule is as follows:
The Qualification to Semi-Finals begins on February 2, with Kuwait Club and Muharraq club opening things up at the Shaikh Saad Alabdulla Sport Hall Complex in Kuwait City. Game time is set at 19:00 local time.
Twice the WASL-Gulf League winners, the second-best team of Group B is headed to their second Qualification to Semi-Finals in a row and will look to do better after getting swept by Ittihad Club last season.
Kuwait Club will take on a Muharraq side that finished no. 3 in Group A, a placing they managed to accomplish despite a rough start into the season that saw them lose their first two assignments before the turnaround.
Reigning WASL-Gulf League titlists Shabab Al Ahli, on the other hand, will start their title defense bid when they host Al Arabi SC at the Sheikh Saeed Bin Maktoum Sports Hall on February 3 at 19:00 Dubai time.
The UAE League Basketball powerhouse finished as the no. 2 team in Group A, eventually setting up a best-of-3 series with their Qatari Basketball League counterparts, who ended up as the third seed in Group B.
The Red Devils are bound for the Final Phase for the first time after failing to advance in their maiden campaign last season. They ended up last in Group B, but not before a tight race between the teams in the pool.
The winner between Shabab Al Ahli and Al Arabi will face Group B top seed Al Ula Club, while Ittihad will take on whoever emerges triumphant between Kuwait Club and Muharraq in the Semi-Finals that starts March 9.
The Final is scheduled for an April 14 tip-off, to be preceded by the Third-Place Game - featuring the losing sides in the Semi-Finals - on April 13. Save for the latter, all Final Phase series will be played in a best-of-3 format.
Teams finishing fourth in the WASL-Gulf League and the WASL-West Asia League, meanwhile, will square off in a knockout game on April 22 for a ticket to the culminating Final 8 2026.
FIBA