Bahrain through to West Asian volleyball semis
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain barged into the semi-finals of the first West Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship yesterday in Qatif, Saudi Arabia.
The junior nationals punched their tickets following a dominant 3-0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-22) win over Syria in their round of eight contest, played at Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Sports Hall. The Bahrainis were in control of the contest from the very start, and never took their foot off the gas.
Bahrain are next set to face the winner of the other quarter-final between Lebanon and Palestine, who were scheduled to face off late last night. In the other quarter-final games, Iraq were set to take on Kuwait while hosts Saudi were to face the UAE.
The winners move on to the semi-finals, which will take place today along with the other classification games for fifth to eighth-places. All participating teams will then have a one-day rest tomorrow, while the last classification contests, as well as the bronze medal game and the gold medal showdown, will take place on Sunday.
Bahrain’s team at the West Asian championship includes talented young stars Hussain Ali, Redha Matrook, Ali Al Bosta, Hassan Al Warqa, Sayed Hashem, Ali Hussain, Ali Habib, Sadeq Marhoon, Sayed Ahmed Murtadha, Hussain Abdulredha, Hassan Ali wiand Abbas Ihsan.
The junior Bahrainis are coached by Tunisian tactician Saber Abdulwahed.
Looking ahead
Bahrain are using this West Asian tournament to prepare for the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, which will be held in the Kingdom next month.
Bahrain are in Pool A for the 18-nation continental showcase alongside Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Pool B features Iran, Japan and India; Pool C includes South Korea, Qatar and Kuwait; Pool D consists of Thailand, Kazakhstan and the UAE; Pool E features Iraq, Australia and Bangladesh and Pool F comprises China, Taipei and Pakistan.
This year’s Asian under-20 event will be the third time Bahrain is hosting. The Kingdom previously also staged the tournament in 2014 and 2018. In the last edition in 2018, the Bahrainis almost made it to the quarter-finals, but suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to Australia in the Round of 16.
Also yesterday in Qatif, Qatar defeated Jordan 3-0 (25-18, 26- 24, 25-19) to claim ninth place overall on the final classification of the 10-team tournament.
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