Al Ahly beaten by Antonine in Dubai International Basketball Championship semi-final

Al Ahly’s men’s basketball team were knocked out of the Dubai International Basketball Championship after losing 85-74 to Lebanon’s Antonine in the semi-finals.

Antonine will face either fellow Lebanese side Al Riyadi or UAE club Shabab Al Ahli Dubai in the final.

Al Ahly competed in the tournament without a foreign professional player because Egyptian Basketball Federation regulations allow teams to register foreign players only from the knockout stages of the Egyptian League.

The Egyptian side made a strong start to the competition, beating Filipino club Ingas 136-75 in their opening game before defeating UAE side Al Wasl 107-69 in their second match.

Their final group-stage fixture ended in defeat, however, as Al Ahly lost 84-81 to Al Riyadi.

The Dubai International Basketball Championship featured eight teams divided into two groups.

Group One consisted of Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Lebanon’s Antonine Baabda, Kuwait’s Al-Qurain and Syria’s Aleppo Police.

Group Two contained Al Ahly of Egypt, Al Riyadi of Lebanon, Al Wasl of the UAE and Filipino side Ingas.

Al Ahly will now return to domestic competition, beginning with the quarter-finals of the Egyptian Linked League. The team will then compete in the Egypt Cup before contesting the finals of the Egyptian League.

Al Ahly enter the remainder of the season as holders of the Egyptian Super Cup, the Egyptian Linked League and the Super League titles from last season.