MANAMA (Bahrain) - Standing in the way of Kuwait Club's bid of reclaiming glory in the 2025-26 FIBA WASL-Gulf League is, quite ironically, the very reason why they lost hold of it in the first place last season.
One of the pan-regional tilt's pioneers have set up a meeting with Ittihad Club in the Semi-Finals, marking a second straight Final Phase encounter between the two - although it's much more personal this time.
"Ittihad beat us last season, so this is just one extra motivation for us," head coach Dusan Stojkov said after completing their sweep of Muharraq in the Qualification to Semi-Finals, Monday night at the BBA Arena.
The long-time Kuwaiti Division 1 League powerhouse came into the 2024-25 competitions with the goal of securing a then-unprecedented 'three-peat' in the Sub-Zone League, but ultimately fell short.
We cannot wait.
In actuality, the crew finished with a 5-1 record in Group A but settled for second after bowing to Shabab Al Ahli in the virtual knockout game for the no. 1 seed in the pool, thus missing an outright Semi-Finals trip.
So, they had to play in the Qualification to Semi-Finals for the first time ever, which meant a longer route to the Final as they had to go through a best-of-3 affair against the third-ranked team of Group B
Their foes happened to be the Tigers, who, at that time, only one twice in the six games they played in the Group Phase but managed to advance after a fellow hopeful in Al Arabi SC got ousted by Al Qadsia SC.
The Saudi Arabian side were perceived as the underdogs, but pulled off what fans and observers deemed unthinkable: a 2-0 sweep, capped by a dramatic 64-63 Game 2 win, to completely oust the Brigadiers.
Left to rue were the Kuwaitis, who witnessed the end of a challenging season for them - they missed Moh Hasan due to injury, and shockingly parted ways with Peter Schomers in the midst of their series versus Ittihad.
The team that overthrew them, on the other hand, would pull off a spirited run all the way to the Big Dance in easily one of WASL's best Cinderella stories before settling for a runner-up finish against Shabab Al Ahli.
But that only served as fuel to do better this season. With Hasan back and powered by a cast of reinforcements led by Joffrey Lauvergne, they finished at no. 2 in Group B to return to the stage in which they flunked last time.
They went on to show how much they've learned by sweeping the Red Devils to return to the Semi-Finals, which is already an accomplishment per se for Stojkov and his charges, given the manner they bowed out last season.
"Our club is one of the biggest in the Middle East, and this is for us. We are very happy, we are very satisfied because we know that this season, especially in the Gulf League, it's been very tough," he said.
"Yes, we won some games by 30 but trust me, the preparation and the games are very physical," the Serbian mentor added. "Every team made adjustments from last season ... Now we have one month to prepare."
But none would make it sweeter than earning a measure of payback against an old tormentor, who, in a total reversal of their maiden campaign, earned a direct trip to the Semi-Finals by finishing atop Group A.
"We cannot wait to play the games," Stojkov said.
FIBA