Nasser, Najma claim big victories

TDT | Manama                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Al Nasser and Al Najma both claimed victories in straight sets over their respective opponents in their round-of-six contests in the 2022/2023 Isa bin Rashid Bahrain Volleyball League.

The games were part of match week nine in this stage of the competition, and they took place at Isa bin Rashid Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa. They were part of the second phase of the league’s six-team playoffs, which is being played in double round-robin format.

The top four at the end of these fixtures move on to the league’s semi-finals. In Nasser’s victory, they were the aggressors from the start and never wavered throughout the match. Nabih Saleh offered some resistance but Nasser was too good on the night, closing out the game with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) score line.

Leading the way for Nasser in the game were top players Ebrahim Mohammed, Yousif Ali, Mohammed Omar, Ali Sultan, Mohammed Abdulla, Ahmed Isa, Hussain Mahdi and Jassim Turki. For Nabih Saleh, Sayed Hashem, Hussain Ashoor and Jaafar Radhi were among their leading performers in the loss, as they continued to play without their former professional Peter Camara from Kenya, who has already left the team.

With the result, Nasser improved to a 3-6 record and still have an uphill climb in their quest for a place in the semi-finals, while Nabih Saleh have already been eliminated and are winless in this round with nine losses.

Meanwhile, Najma and Ahli were facing off in a clash between the league’s top two teams, with Najma coming away with a surprisingly comfortable 3-0 (27-25, 25-23, 25-22) win. Estonian professional Kevin Saar finished with a team-high 16 points while also committing eight errors in the contest.

Ali Ebrahim chipped in with 10 points to go with seven errors, while Fadhel Abbas had nine points, Hassan Dhahi eight, and Mohammed Habib scored five points. For Ahli, Ali Marhoon paced his team in the loss with 15 points and had just two errors.

Mohammed Anan had 12 points with 11 errors, Abbas Al Khabbaz chipped in with nine markers, and Ali Al Sairafi had five. Najma improved to an 8-1 win-loss record with one game remaining in this stage and are virtually assured of the top seed for the semi-finals.

Ahli dropped their third game to go with six wins. Dar Kulaib are behind only Najma on the standings with a 7-2 win-loss record, while Muharraq are tied with Nasser on their marks.