Bahrain roster set for Asian volleyball
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain are travelling with a 14-player team to the Japanese city of Chiba tomorrow to compete in the 21st Asian Senior Men’s Volleyball Championship.
The biennial competition, organised and run by the Asian Volleyball Confederation in cooperation with the Japan Volleyball Association, is scheduled to take place September 12 to 19. It is set to feature 16 national teams from across the continent, and it also acts as a qualifying event for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship. Both the gold and silver-medallists book their tickets to the worlds.
The Bahraini roster includes Abbas Mohammed Alkhabbaz, Hussain Abdulla Sultan, Ali Khairalla, Mahmood Hasan, Ali Ebrahim Habib, Mohammed Yaqoob, Mahmood Abdulwahed, Mohammed Saleh Anan, Hussain Mahdi, Ali Alsairafi, Nasser Saleh Anan, Mahmood Alafyah, Mahmood Abdulhussain Salman and Ali Habib.
They will be travelling with delegation head Mohammed Al Thawadi, team manager Sayed Ali Haider, head coach Marco Antonio Queiroga, assistant coaches Ebrahim Ali and Leandro Alves de Carvalho, physiotherapist Mohammed Al Mansoor and referee Muneer Juma. During the team’s training yesterday, Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa paid a visit and spoke to the players and staff.
He was accompanied by a number of BVA officials, and they wished the team all the best in the competition. Bahrain are in Pool A for the tournament’s preliminary round, where they will be facing hosts Japan, who were also the bronze-medallists at the last edition of the competition, India, and fellow-Gulf side Qatar.
Defending champions Iran, Pakistan, Thailand and Hong Kong are in Pool B, while Pool C consists of reigning silver-medallists Australia, China, Sri Lanka and Kuwait.
South Korea, Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia make up Pool D. The Bahrainis are scheduled to open their campaign against India on the first day of action.
They will then take on the Japanese the following evening, before facing off with Qatar on September 14. The top two teams from each group make it to the round of eight, which will see the eight qualified teams divided into Pools E and F.
The remaining sides will be in Pools G and H which will determine ninth through 16th place on the final classification. The semi-finals are scheduled for September 18, while the bronze and gold medal games are set for September 19. This year’s championship will be Bahrain’s 10th participation in the continent’s leading event.
Bahrain first competed in 1979 as hosts, and last appeared in 2015 when they finished 12th. Bahrain’s best classification was eighth, which they achieved in the 1987 edition.
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