Ahli sweep past Kamil-Wafi

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain champions Al Ahli continued their impressive form for a second successive day to claim another win in the 38th Gulf Clubs Volleyball Championship, being held in Bahrain.

After defeating Al Qadisiya of Kuwait in four sets on opening night on Sunday, Ahli rode their momentum into their contest against Al Kamil and Al Wafi of Oman yesterday and cruised to a 3-0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-22) decision at Isa bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.

The result preserved the Bahrainis’ undefeated record after their first two fixtures, with one more to play in the tournament’s preliminary round.

They next face off with defending champions Police Sports Club of Qatar, who also stayed unbeaten yesterday following a come-from-behind 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-13) triumph against Qadisiya in the day’s other game.

Today is a rest day and tournament action continues tomorrow with Kamil-Wafi taking on Qadisiya at 5pm and then Ahli battling Police SC at 7pm.

The winners of the Ahli-Police encounter will finish this stage in first place and head into the semi-finals as the top seed.

In Ahli’s win last night, the Bahrainis relied heavily on their star local line-up consisting of Mohammed Anan, Nasser Anan, Ali Al Sairifi, Ali Habib, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Abbas Al Khabbaz and libero Hussain Sultan, along with their talented Brazilian professional Luis Fernando Venceslau.

The hosts did well to fight back late in the first set as they turned away a deficit to take the early match advantage.

They then cruised in the second set and even led by double digits, while in the third, Ahli capitalised on their commanding lead and closed things out with a strong finishing kick.

Tomorrow’s games will be followed by the semi-finals on Thursday, and then after a break on Friday, the bronze and gold medal games will take place on Saturday.

Ahli earned the right to represent Bahrain in the Gulf championship as the reigning title-holders in the Isa bin Rashid Bahrain First Division Volleyball League.

They are looking to clinch their first Gulf clubs crown, and emulate the success of fellow-Bahraini sides Muharraq, Al Najma, Nasser and Dar Kulaib, who have all already won in the past.

The last edition of the tournament was held in Kuwait in 2020, which was won by Qatar’s Police SC, while Bahrain’s Dar Kulaib finished as silver-medallists and Kuwait Club were third.