Salalah girls win third place in Gulf Cup

Muscat, August 27

The Salalah women’s basketball team achieved a remarkable result by finishing third in the Fatima bint Mubarak Gulf Women’s Basketball Academy Cup held in Abu Dhabi. This result was achieved after Salalah defeated Fatima Academy 52-39. Kuwaiti team Al Qurain won the championship and Qatari club Al Gharafa was the runner-up.

Salalah’s participation in this tournament reflects the Oman Basketball Association’s emphasis on the development of women’s sports and its support for female talents in sports clubs. Salalah Club ranked first in the overall ranking of the 2023 Oman Women’s Games and was nominated to participate in this tournament.

In this interesting match, Sarah Abdullah opened the scoring for Fatima College with a penalty kick. However, Marwa Al Ajmi responded quickly and scored a point for Salalah with a penalty kick. Salalah players continued to press, with Marwa Al Ajmi and Noor Al Kalusi scoring four points each, changing the score to 5-1, with Salalah leading. Zeina Battash scored two more points to widen the gap, and although Fatima College players tried to equalize the score, Salalah led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Shams Duha Kenji made a wonderful three-pointer at the beginning, widening the lead of Sarala. But Hayat Maskari quickly counterattacked and scored two points, and then Noor Kaloussi scored another three points for Sarala. Although Fatima Academy players tried to narrow the gap, Gader Nasser still scored two points, and Shams Duha made another three-pointer, making the score of Sarala 22-13. At the end of this quarter, Fatima Academy scored 10 points in a row and ended the second quarter with a 23-22 lead.

In the third quarter, the two teams competed fiercely and the score rose alternately. In the eighth minute of the game, Noor Al Kalusi scored a three-pointer for Salalah, chasing the score to 35-33. At the end of this quarter, Shams Al Duha scored another half basket, and Salalah ended the third quarter with a 36-33 lead.

In the fourth and final quarter, Shams al Duha scored two points to extend Salalah’s lead. Although Fatima Academy players tried to close the gap, Salalah’s defense was very tight and prevented them from getting back in the game. Ruba al Kalbani added two more points for Salalah through a quick counterattack to bring the score to 41-34. Shams al Duha continued to shine, scoring five points in a row to keep Salalah ahead until the end of the game, eventually winning 52-39.

In the semi-finals, Salalah lost to Al Gharafa 53-31.