Al Ahli step up preps for Asian clubs volleyball

TDT | Manama                                                             

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa visited a training session of Al Ahli Club’s senior men’s volleyball team, who will be flying the Kingdom’s flag in the 2023 Asian Men’s Club Volleyball Championship, which gets underway on Sunday.

HH Shaikh Isa was welcomed on his visit by Ahli chairman Khalid Ebrahim Kanoo, Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) secretary general Feras Al Helwachi, and other Ahli and BVA officials.

HH Shaikh Isa spoke with the team members and conveyed to them the greetings of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority president and BOC chief His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, under whose patronage the 16-nation event is being held.

HH Shaikh Isa wished them the very best in the upcoming competition and encouraged them to represent Bahrain in the best way they can, especially with the tournament being hosted by the Kingdom.

The practice session, supervised by head coach Nezar Al Shakili, was the first for Ahli with its three international professionals in uniform, namely Gabriel Jose da Silva Candido from Brazil, Yosvany Hernandez from Cuba and Davide Saitta from Italy.

The championship is being organised by the BVA in cooperation with the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC), and is scheduled to continue until May 21. Ahli are in Pool A for the competition’s preliminary round along with Korean Air Jumbos Pro-Volleyball Club from South Korea, Canberra Heat from Australia and Jakarta Bhayangkara Presisi from Indonesia.

Pool B is set to feature Shahdab Yazd from Iran, South Gas Sports Club from Iraq, Taichung Bank from Chinese-Taipei and Kam Air VC from Afghanistan. Pool C comprises Suntory Sunbirds from Japan, Diamond Food Fine Chef-Air Force from Thailand, Bayankhongor Crownd Geo VC from Mongolia and Khaypil Sports Club from Yemen.

Pool D features Atyrau VC from Kazakhstan, Police Sports Team from Qatar, Aspiring Volleyball Team from Hong Kong and Kuwait Sporting Club from Kuwait. The participating delegations continued to arrive in Bahrain ahead of the competition’s start.

Matches are to be held daily across two arenas at Isa Sports City in Riffa. Entrance is free to all games. Following a single round-robin, the top two teams from each preliminary round pool move on to the round of eight, where they will again be divided into two groups with the head-to-head results from the preliminaries being carried over.

That will then determine the teams for the semi-finals. The other squads will play in the placement pools. The champions of this year’s tournament will qualify for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship.