Today, our national basketball team opens its campaign in the second stage of the Asian qualifiers for the Basketball World Cup – Qatar 2027, when it faces the Chinese team in an anticipated confrontation that begins at seven in the evening, in the first official test for Annabi during the fourth window, amid great aspirations to achieve a strong start in front of its fans.
The confrontation is of particular importance because it is being held on the territory of Qatar, and in the Al Janoub Hall, which officially opens its doors to basketball, to be the stage for this strong meeting between the two teams. The hall can accommodate about 8,200 seats, and hosting the match comes as part of the ongoing preparations to host the 2027 Basketball World Cup, as the confrontation between Qatar and China represents an important station to test the readiness of the facility a year before the start of the tournament. The Qatari team is aware of the difficulty of the task facing China, which is one of the teams with a strong presence in Asian basketball, and the record of previous confrontations between the two teams gives the competitor a clear advantage, as China achieved six victories compared to Qatar not recording any victory in the previous confrontations listed in the records of the International Basketball Federation.
The last meeting between the two teams was in the Asian Cup in 2017, and ended with China winning 92-67, while the two sides previously met in the Asian Championship in 2015, and China won 89-65. It also outperformed Qatar in the 2013 edition with a score of 96-85, and in 2009 with a score of 92-61, in addition to other victories in previous editions.
Al-Anabi enters the match against China after a period of intense preparations, which included a training camp in Turkey, during which the technical staff focused on raising the players’ readiness from both a physical and technical standpoint, in addition to trying a number of tactical options before entering the atmosphere of official matches.
Al-Annabi’s mission does not stop when facing China, as he will play another match during the fourth window, when he will visit the Japanese national team on August 30, 2026, in his second match in the second stage of the Asian qualifiers. Al-Anabi’s journey will continue in the second stage next November, when it hosts the Republic of Korea national team in Doha on November 26, then meets the Japanese national team in Doha on November 29, before concluding its journey in the second stage by facing China on February 26, 2027, then the Republic of Korea national team on March 1, 2027.
