Al Gharafa beat Al Sadd, Al Arabi defeat Al Ahli in Amir Cup

Doha: The Group A games of the 2024-2025 Amir Cup Basketball Championsip witnessed exciting surprises, as today’s matches (Monday, May 5, 2025) at the Al Gharafa Sports Hall featured thrilling and intense encounters.

Al Gharafa Club caused a major upset when they inflicted the first defeat on Al Sadd Club in the tournament, winning 99-92.

The game started strongly for Al Gharafa, which imposed their control in the first period (29-25), seizing an early lead.

However, Al Sadd, with their wealth of experience and capabilities, quickly came back in the second period and secured it in their favor (27-20). But Al Gharafa did not give up, as they managed to regain the initiative in the third period (27-19), strengthening their lead, and continued their superiority in the final period (23-21), achieving a deserved victory.

Mackey Zion Juan Richard was the standout player of the match, scoring 29 points to lead his team to victory, while Jevon Joseph McCormick was the top scorer for Al Sadd with 25 points.

With this win, Al Gharafa raised their tally to 4 points from 3 matches, moving up to third place in the group, while Al Sadd dropped to fourth with the same tally.

In the other game, reigning champions Al Arabi achieved an important victory over Al Ahli with a score of 82-74, jumping to second place in the group with 6 points.

Al Arabi started the game strongly, imposing their control in the first period (25-19), before Al Ahli succeeded in reducing the gap in the second period (24-22), ending the first half in Al Arabi’s favor (47-43).

Despite Al Ahli’s resistance in the third period, which they won (18-15), Al Arabi regained their strength in the fourth period (20-13) to seal the match in the end.
Elmedin Kikanovic was the star of the match, scoring 23 points to lead his team to this crucial win.

On Al Ahli’s side, Mustafa Ndaw was the top scorer with 16 points, but that was not enough to secure victory.

With these results, Al Ahli top the group with 7 points, while Al Arabi hold second place with 6 points, and Al Gharafa and Al Sadd remain locked in a tight race for third and fourth places with 4 points each.

Thus, the competition in the group intensifies, with each match now like a mini-final.

Al Gharafa are set to meet Qatar Club at 5:00 PM on Thursday, May 8, 2025, while Al Arabi will face Al Sadd at 7:00 PM at Al Gharafa Hall.

In another development, Al Rayyan Club confirmed their lead in Group B with 6 points after winning three consecutive matches, securing direct qualification to the semifinals. Meanwhile, the battle for second place in the same group heats up, as Al Wakrah and Al Shamal face off in a knockout match to determine the team advancing to the semifinals, while Al Khor Club exits the tournament after three losses.

This year’s edition of the Amir Cup has seen a development in the tournament system, with the group stage played in a single round-robin format, where the first-place teams in each group advance directly to the semifinals, while the second- and third-place teams play knockout matches.

This new system increases the level of competition between teams and guarantees more excitement in the upcoming stages.

With the semifinals approaching, to be played in a “best of three” format, May 22, 2025, becomes an important date in the tournament, when the winning team will be crowned the champion of this edition in one of the most thrilling championships in the history of Qatari basketball.