Today, «Astana» starts in a new international tournament called the West Asian Super League. All tournament matches will be held in Dubai, and the first match in the group stage is against the local team, «Shabab Al-Ahli.»

This club was founded in 2012 and has since become the champion of the UAE nine times: in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The basketball team is part of a sports club that also includes football players.

The hosts' journey to the Final Eight cannot be called easy: in the Gulf League, they only made it out of the group stage in second place, losing to «Al-Hilal.» In the match for the right to advance to the semifinals, «Shabab Al-Ahli» defeated «Al-Nasr» (2-1 in the series) but then lost both semifinal matches to «Kuwait.» Nevertheless, «Shabab Al-Ahli» secured third place and a spot in the Final Eight: in the decisive match, they beat «Al-Hilal» with a score of 88-76, finishing the group stage in first place.

The team is coached by Bosnian coach Zoran Zupčević, who has great experience working with basketball players from the UAE. The standout players include center Kais Omar Alshabebi (15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game on average in the early stages of the league), and guard Said Aladjmani (5.3 assists per game). It is also worth noting Ukrainian center Artem Pustovyi, a former player of «Barcelona» and «Murcia.»

On the way to the tournament, one of the team leaders was American forward Nicholas Minnerath, but he did not make the roster for the Final Eight.

Interestingly, in 2017, «Astana» played against «Shabab Al-Ahli» in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup quarterfinals. At that time, the Kazakhstani team secured a victory and subsequently won the bronze medals in the tournament.

The match will start at 21:00 Astana time, and it can be watched on the Qazsport channel.

Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the Tournaments section.

«Astana» started the Final Eight of the West Asian Super League with a victory over the local team, «Shabab Al-Ahli.»

Oleg Kiselev's team took the lead from the very start and only lost it twice, and even then, only for a short time, totaling 26 seconds. At one point, the Kazakhstani team had a 17-point lead.

The match's second half proved challenging as the hosts narrowly won the third and fourth quarters. Nevertheless, the «Astana» players scored enough points to maintain their lead and secure a victory with a final score of 80-73.

The standout player for «Astana» was Markell Johnson, who scored 16 points and made 7 assists. The debutants for the Kazakhstani club, Carvell Anderson (19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) and Martin Krampelj (12 points, 3 rebounds), also performed well.

Among the Kazakhstani basketball players, Dmitry Gavrilov (8 points, 4 rebounds), Rustam Murzagaliyev (10 points, 4 rebounds), and Ruslan Aitkali (12 points, 4 made three-pointers out of 6 attempts) deserve special mention. It is noteworthy that «Astana» converted all 15 free throws.

The top performer for «Shabab Al-Ahli» was Ukrainian center Artem Pustovyi, who scored 21 points and had 14 rebounds.
 
The next match for «Astana» will take place on June 11 at 18:00 local time. Their opponent will be the Iranian team, «Shahrdari Gorgan.»

Detailed information about the tournament, standings, schedule, and match results are published in the Tournaments section.