Bahrain stunned by Saudi in U19 final
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Hosts Bahrain were stunned by Saudi Arabia in a five-set thriller last night and had to settle for the silver medals in the sixth GCC U19 Volleyball Championship.
The tournament was hosted by the Kingdom over the past week, with the participation of four nations, including Bahrain, Saudi, Kuwait and the UAE. In attendance at yesterday’s final held at Isa bin Rashid Arena in Isa Sports City was Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority (GSA) president and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) president His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
HH Shaikh Khalid presented the champions’ trophy. Also on hand were BOC vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain Volleyball Association president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and other top officials.
Bahrain won the first set and appeared headed to a clean sweep of the competition, but the Saudis gave them a surprise and the home side could not reply over the next two sets, despite their best efforts. In the fourth, the action went the maximum and Bahrain were able to eke out the win by just two points to set up the decisive fifth.
25-20, 31-33, 19-17) scoreline.
The loss waThere, they took a 14-11 lead and were on the brink of clinching the crown, but the Saudis fought back valiantly and scored the next three points to extend the contest.
Both teams exchanged points until a pair of Bahrain mistakes ultimately cost them the match, with the Saudis winning with a 3-2 (17-25, 25-23, s the first for Bahrain in the entire competition, during which they won all three of their preliminary round games and then went on to clinch their semi-final.
The Bahrainis had also defeated Saudi in four sets during their first meeting. The Bahrainis are coached by Brazilian tactician Leandro Kakaroto.
The team that competed in the tournament included Hussain Ali, Hassan Alawi, Hussain Abdulredha, Ali Habib, Sayed Hashem Issa, Youssef Mansour, Sayed Ahmed Murtada, Ali Abdulmajed Al Bosta, Hassan Al Warqaa, Ali Hussain Ahmed, Sadiq Jaafar and Sayed Hashem Falah.
Meanwhile, Kuwait claimed the tournament’s bronze medals after defeating their Emirati opponents 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-21) in the game for third place. After the final, the top three teams were presented their respective medals in an awarding ceremony.
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