The UAE got off to a losing start against Kuwait in the Under-17 Gulf Cup at Al Wasl club on Saturday night.
From being 29-23 down at half-time, the young team wasn’t able to recover and eventually lost 67-55.
But Ben Slimane Mounir, technical director of the national team, wasn’t too despondent by the result and feels the team will only get better as the tournament progresses.
“For most of our players it was their first official game ever,” he said. “They were a little bit tight and nervous on the court. They didn’t handle the pressure well.
“Most of the points made by Kuwait were due to our mistakes, our turnovers, which is not to underestimate Kuwait because they fully deserved to win.
“A lot of their points came from our errors and we need to cut that out. It wasn’t because they were very tough or very strong opponents.”
The focus of UAE basketball is firmly on next year’s U17 World Cup which will be held in the Emirates.
And Mounir said that most of the team that played last night would be eligible for the World Cup.
He said: “We are the youngest team in the tournament, most of our players were born in 1998, we don’t have that physical ability; we are also the shortest team, so this is also a handicap.
"But we also have some positives; we put on good pressure. We have to play to a high level to improve. This Gulf Cup is one type of preparation for the World Cup. It’s not an excuse, that’s the reality.”
The Under-17 Gulf Cup includes Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, apart from the UAE.
In the other game of the night, Saudi Arabia beat Oman 58-46.
The UAE will not be in action again until Monday night, when they take on Qatar, but Sunday night sees Saudi Arabia take on the Qataris at 17:00 and Bahrain play against Oman at 19:00.
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