Omar Saleh feels title is Al Mawakeb School's to lose

Player believes his team deserve to win the basketball championship because they "work hard and train almost every day, and know each other's games really well".

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DUBAI //Omar Saleh believes Al Mawakeb School could become the Dubai basketball champions after starting their season with a convincing win.

The 17 year old and his teammates coasted to a 34-20 victory over Jumeirah College at Al Wasl Sports Complex on Saturday in the opening game of the first annual Dubai High School Basketball Championship. "We have a great team this year so why couldn't we win the championship," Saleh asked.

"We work hard and train almost every day, so we are a close group. We know each other's games really well so that's why I think we are in for a good season."

Mahmoud Jaber, the Jumeirah College captain, acknowledged his side passed up too many chances.

"We are disappointed," Jaber said. "We missed a lot of shots and had they gone in we would have given them a better game. Our game is based on pace, but we took a long time to get going."

In the second game of the day, International School of Choueifat Dubai thrashed Dubai International School 76-17. The competition will feature 10 schools in a two group round-robin format, culminating in a final four championship decider on January 20-21.

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