Dar Kulaib capture prestigious Crown Prince’s Cup
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Dar Kulaib were last night crowned champions of the 2023 Crown Prince’s Cup volleyball tournament.
The victors clinched the coveted trophy after powering past Al Ahli 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21) in a rocking final, played at a packed Isa bin Rashid Arena at the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) headquarters at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
Dar Kulaib thus secured the Crown Prince’s Cup for the fourth successive year and fifth overall, and also completed a league-and-cup double for the 2022/2023 season after previously also winning the title in the Isa bin Rashid Bahrain Volleyball League.
They had also won the silver medals in the first West Asia Men’s Club Championship, held last March in Amman.
Following the championship-decider, the winners and runners-up were presented their respective trophies and medals in a closing ceremony attended by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Salman Al Khalifa.
Also on hand were Bahrain Olympic Committee vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, BVA president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and other senior BVA officials.
Dar Kulaib were dominant against Al Ahli all throughout the 2022/2023 season, winning all five of their meetings, including last night’s affair.
They had previously claimed all four games in the league, which included a two-game sweep in the Golden Square semi-finals, before taking yesterday’s final.
Rally In the first set yesterday, Ahli went ahead 8-5 but Dar Kulaib rallied to tie it at 15-apiece.
A Mohammed Yaqoob spike set up by Ali Habib then gave Dar Kulaib the edge, but Ahli stayed close until their rivals were playing for set point.
Argentinian professional Juan Barrera closed it out at the net to give Dar Kulaib the early advantage.
In set two, the victors were up 11-9 but Ahli roared back to take a 19-18 lead!
Nasser Anan then gave Ahli a 23-22 advantage, and then a Hassan Jaafar spike closed the set out to tie the proceedings at 1-1.
In set three, Dar Kulaib were determined to regain their advantage and Barrera was putting on a spectacular show.
He helped them go ahead 15-9, and they never wavered from there, with Yaqoob and Barrera scoring to end the set.
The fourth was dominant for the league and cup champions. After Ahli got to within 9-11, Dar Kulaib went on a decisive run, with Barrera putting them ahead 20-13.
He then provided a fitting ending, giving them the title-deciding point.
Dar Kulaib, coached by Brazilian Leandro Kakaroto, also had key contributions last night from Mahmoud Abdulwahed, Abdulla Mohammed, libero Hussain Sultan, Hassan Alaiwi and Ayman Isa.
Leading the charge for Ahli were Anan, Mohammed Anan, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Ali Alsairafi, Abbas Al Khabbaz, Hassan Jaafar, Sayed Mohammed Alabbar, and Canadian import Jerome Cross.
Dar Kulaib qualified for the single-game title-decider after defeating Al Nasser in a twogame sweep of their best-ofthree semi-final series.
Ahli enjoyed their own impressive triumph, also in two games, against Al Najma in their final four match-up.
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