BEIRUT (Lebanon) - Manama and Kuwait Club will rekindle their rivalry come Season 2 of the FIBA West Asia Super League (WASL) tipping off in October.

Two of the pan-regional competitions' first champions banner the cast of teams returning to the WASL-Gulf League, both motivated to strike gold once more - and settle the score after getting the best of one another in the inaugural season.

For a refresher, Kuwait Club beat Manama to win the Sub-Zone crown via 10-game sweep of the tournament and tried to repeat against the same opponent in the Final 8 title bout, but the Bahraini side refused to let that happen as they took home FIBA WASL's biggest prize.

Mosti Rashed and the squad would definitely want to extend their reign and perhaps go for a golden double this time to maximize their return, which they did by ruling the 2022-23 Bahraini Premier League for their 24th domestic league championship overall.

But surely, the Hasan Bros. and the rest of Kuwait Club - which made it back to the FIBA WASL by conquering the Kuwaiti Division 1 Basketball League for the fourth consecutive time last May - would want to spoil those plans and cop both titles to make up for what happened in Season 1.

Aside from the two ball clubs, also coming back are Shabab Al Ahli-Dubai, which graciously hosted the successful Final 8 inaugurals in the City of Gold.

Third-placers in the last WASL-Gulf League, Qais Omar Alshabebi and Co. made their way back after winning the UAE National League title last April, giving themselves a three-peat.

Kazma, ultimately, complete the returnees' ensemble following another runner-up finish in the 2022-23 Kuwaiti Division 1 Basketball League.

Eight teams are set to compete in the FIBA WASL-Gulf League, with the rest of the field set to be confirmed and announced soon.

Tipping off on 16 October, Season 2 will see a total of 18 teams, made up of 13 champions and 5 runners-up from domestic leagues from the Gulf, West, South, and Central Asia Sub-Zones.

Each Sub-Zone League will feature 2 groups of 4 teams, with the top seed by the end of the round-robin Group Phase directly qualifying to the best-of-3 Semi-Finals.

The second and third-ranked teams will play in the Qualification to Semi-Finals - also a best-of-3.

The top 3 teams from both the West Asia and Gulf leagues will be joined by the champion teams from the South and Central Asia Sub-Zones in the FIBA WASL Final 8.

The Sub-Zone Leagues Draw will take place on Tuesday, 8 August 2023 at 18:00 (GMT+3) at the Le Royal Hotel Beirut in Dbayeh, Lebanon.

FIBA