Gharafa players celebrating after winning the Qatar Cup last week. They will now go for a domestic double when the Emir Cup begins today.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Al Khor will take on Al Arabi in the opening match of the Emir Cup basketball tournament at the Gharafa Indoor Hall today.
The match, which begins at 5pm, will be followed by a tie between Qatar Sports Club and Al Rayyan at 7pm.
The focus, however, will be on defending champions Al Gharafa who will begin their campaign on May 9 against Qatar Sports Club.
Al Gharafa will be also aiming for a double crown this season, having won the Qatar Cup last week. Last season, they had made a clean sweep, winning the Qatar Basketball League as well as the Qatar Cup and Emir Cup. They have been placed in the Group A with 16-time league champions Al Rayyan.
However, Gharafa coach Koussay al-Khalaf sounded optimistic after the draw held last month.
“It’s a fair grouping and I am expecting some strong competition this year in the tournament,” al-Khalaf told Gulf Times.
He was all praise for the Qatar Basketball Federation’s (QBF) move to give priority to the finalists of the last season in the draw.
“This time last year’s winner and runners-up have been put in the different groups so that the other teams also have equal chance to prove their mettle and QBF deserves praise for adopting the procedure. So this is a welcome move,” he said.
“I feel the draws for both the big championships look fairly even. All the top four teams are equally divided in the two groups and even the upcoming teams like Al Shamal, Al Wakrah, Qatar Sports Club and Al Arabi have a chance to do well.
“The cups are not played on the format of the League. Even the smaller teams have an opportunity to play well against big teams, upset them and qualify for the semi-finals. All the teams will make some changes and try to get stronger for the upcoming events.”
