Doha: Qatar’s Al Arabi secured a vital victory against Al Qadsia of Kuwait in the in the third and final round of the first leg of the West Asian Super League (WASL) at Al-Gharafa Hall on Tuesday evening.
The victory was Al Arabi’s second in the group, while the Kuwaiti side was prevented from continuing their winning streak.
With the win, Al Arabi raised their score to five points to occupy the top of the group, tied with Al Qadisiyah, who lost for the first time after achieving two victories in the previous two rounds, as Al Qadisiyah won in the first round against Al Manama of Bahrain (90-84) and then outperformed Al Ittihad Jeddah (91-83) in Kuwait.
Despite Al Qadsia’s lead in the first period (25-19), Al Arabi returned strongly to dominate the next three periods (24-22, 24-20, 21-14) thanks to the distinguished performance of their players.
Ilmindin Kukanovic was the undisputed star of the game, as he scored 27 points for Al Arabi, while Sayed Akbar from Al Qadsia stood out by scoring 22 points.
As for Al Arabi, they regained their balance after losing in the first round outside their home against Al Ittihad Jeddah (64-86) and returned to achieve their first victory in the second round against Al Manama of Bahrain (85-84) in an exciting match held in Bahrain.
According to the tournament system, the leader of each group from the Gulf qualifies directly to the semi-finals of the region, while the second and third place holders play play-off matches to determine the rest of the qualifiers.
