Bahrain set for Italy test

Hosts Bahrain take on unbeaten European giants Italy today night in their opening game of the second round in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship 2019, currently being held in the Kingdom. The Pool F match, scheduled to start no earlier than 7pm, is part of an exciting eight-game programme at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa.

It is a hugely interesting clash between the underdog Bahrainis who will get a huge boost from the local crowd and the heavily favoured Italians who are one of only three teams remaining who have yet to taste defeat in the competition. The other two squads who are still unscathed are China and Russia, and they themselves will be facing a pair of tough opponents in Pool E. China take on South American powerhouses Brazil in a thrilling encounter scheduled for an 11.30am start. Russia, on the other hand, face off with Korea at 2pm.

Iran lock horns with Argentina in the other second round match in Pool F today. Their game is set to begin at 4.30pm. Aside from the four fixtures amongst the top eight teams, there are also another four games in the classification Pools G and H, where the teams are vying for the best position in the final overall rankings from ninth to 16th. At 11.30am, Puerto Rico face Canada followed at 2pm by Egypt taking on the Czech Republic. Both are Pool G matches. At 4.30pm, Cuba lock horns with Tunisia and then Morocco face Poland at 7pm in Pool H to complete the day’s schedule.

In this second round of play, which continues until Wednesday, July 24, the top two teams in Pools E and F move on to the semi-finals while the bottom two will play for fifth through eighth place. After this round, a rest day will be had on Thursday, July 25, followed by the semi-finals on Friday, July 26, and then the bronze and gold medal games on Saturday, July 27. There will also be final classification games on both days.