Qatar University and Hamad Bin Khalifa University emerged victorious in the Qatar University Basketball League’s opening games on Sunday.
Two men’s games were played at the Multaqa basketball court, with Qatar University locking horns against Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar in the tournament opener, followed by a tussle between HBKU and Georgetown University in Qatar.
QU claimed a 64-45 victory over WCM-Q, which showed glimmers of redemption midway through the second quarter, tying the game at 16 apiece. However, the WCM-Q rally was short-lived, as QU went on to dominate the rest of the game.
QU finished as runner-up to the University of Doha for Science and Technology in an overtime defeat in the last finals of the QUBL. QU played with confidence in its first outing of the season and is viewed as a favored challenger to win the league along with defending champion UDST.
HBKU beat GU-Q 48-45 in the second game, although GU-Q looked stronger during most of the game, scoring early to secure a 10-point initial lead. Meanwhile, HBKU struggled to convert shots and connect passes but rallied to cut GU-Q’s lead to six points in the third quarter.
From then on the tide of the game shifted. After a few calls went against them, GU-Q players let their emotions get the better of them. Constantly complaining to the officials and displaying improper conduct on the bench resulted in GU-Q getting hit with a flurry of more than five technical fouls in the match.
The Qatar University Basketball League tournament is scheduled to run from Oct. 15 to Jan. 28 and will host 43 men’s and women’s matches at the Multaqa basketball court and UDST court.
The tournament is organized by the Qatar Collegiate Sports Federation in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation, UDST and the Qatar Basketball Federation.
The opening women’s game is set to be played on Sunday at the UDST court in Duhail between UDST and WCM-Q.
The women’s category comprises six teams from UDST, TAMU-Q, NU-Q, WCM-Q, GU-Q and Virginia Commonwealth University – Qatar, the same as last year.
The men’s category comprises eight teams, with HBKU and Global Studies Institute – Qatar new to the league. They join last year’s tournament competitors UDST, QU, TAMU-Q, WCM-Q, GU-Q and NU-Q.
