Spirited Bahrain go down fighting

 TDT | Manama              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A spirited Bahrain narrowly missed out on joining six others last night in punching their tickets to the elite eight of the FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship 2023, currently being hosted by the Kingdom.

The Bahrainis went down fighting in a thrilling five sets against Thailand in both teams’ second Pool A contest. With the result, the Thais kept their hopes alive of advancing to the next stage, but Bahrain, Iran, and Tunisia all still have a chance with only today’s games remaining in the tournament’s preliminary round.

Six other teams have already secured their berths in the top eight, including defending champions Italy and Brazil from Pool B, Poland and Bulgaria from Pool C, and Argentina and Belgium from Pool D.

Only the top two teams in Pool A have to be determined this evening, when hosts Bahrain will be facing the Iranians in a thrilling match scheduled for an 8 p.m. start.

The Thais and Tunisians go head-to-head at 5 p.m.All are welcome to attend today’s matches, starting at 11 a.m. with the last pair of fixtures scheduled for 8 p.m. The games are being held between two courts at Isa Sports City in Riffa, and entrance is free.

Attending yesterday’s games were General Sports Authority CEO Dr. Abdulrahman Askar, Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and BVA secretary general Feras Al Helwachi, among other high-ranking officials. In Bahrain’s loss, they had a golden opportunity to take an early advantage but failed to preserve a seven-point cushion in the first set.

They won the next two frames, but the Thais roared back and did enough at the end to seal the all-important 3-2 (26-24, 21-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-12) win.

Outside hitters Sayed Hashem and Husain Ehsan paced the Bahrainis with 24 and 15 points, respectively. Thai outside hitter Jakkrit Thanomnoi paced his side with 27 markers. Bahrain’s middle blocker Hasan Warqaa said after the game: "We feel disappointed, but we played very well, and hopefully we can play well again tomorrow against Iran.

We will give our best, just like we did in our first two games against Tunisia and Thailand." The Bahrainis went to four points on the Pool A table, one behind Iran.

The Thais are third with two points, while Tunisia follows with one. In last night’s other Pool A clash, Iran rallied from two sets down to overcome a tough challenge from the Tunisians 3-2 (22-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-11). Opposite spiker Amir Mohammad Golzadeh was their top performer with an impressive 28 points, including four aces, while outside hitter Mastanabad Mobin Nasri added 16 markers. Opposite Khaled Bouallegue had 22 points for valiant Tunisia.

Defending champions Italy cruised past Egypt 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-12) in Pool B to ensure they march forward. Opposite Alessandro Alberto Bovolenta had 17 points to lead the Italians, who have claimed back-to-back straight-set wins.

Bovolenta had a fine, all-around performance that included three block points and four service winners. "It was a great game; I am very happy and I am so proud of my teammates," Bovolenta said. "Our next games are going to be most difficult, starting tomorrow. We are going to be focused; this is important; relaxed, but when we are on the court, it is important to concentrate on the game and when we are focused like we were today, for the other team it will be very difficult." Outside hitters Mattia Orioli and Riccardo Iervolino added 10 points apiece in the win, while pacing Egypt was skipper Zyad Mohamed with eight markers. In the other Pool B game, Brazil outclassed Mexico 3-0 (25- 12, 25-17, 25-21).

Outside hitter and captain Buczmiejuk Arthur Bento had 14 points, including three aces, while opposite Neufeld Samuel de Morais added 13.

Eduardo Gonzalez Ramon had eight for the Mexicans. In Pool C, Poland and Bulgaria took care of business to secure their spots in the next stage. Poland enjoyed a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-21) sweep against Canada, while Bulgaria needed to dig deep for a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 29-27, 25-13) decision against a battling India. Opposite spiker Tytus Nowik was the Poles’ leading scorer in their game, finishing with 15 points, 11 in attack.

Outside hitter Piotr Sliwka added 12, while middle blocker Jakub Majchrzak scored nine points. Nowik commented: "This match was difficult because Canada played really good. We started very aggressive, and in the first set we had full control; the second too.

But in the last set we waited for good moments, and at 20-20, we started to play better to win this match." Nowik said that the Poles are determined to continue their winning ways and ride their momentum into the elite eight. "We like to play under pressure," he said. "Every match, we play the same—even if it’s the first match, it is like a final.

The second round is going to be more stress, but this is the route to the final and we are ready and we will keep going." Kaden Schmidt was the top scorer for the Canadians with 13 points, while skipper Jacob Sargent finished with seven. For Bulgaria, star man Aleksandar Nikolov finished with a game-high 23 points, which included five service winners.

Opposite Georgi Tatarov was also in impressive form with 22 points, three in block. Nikolov said post game: "We’re in the top eight in the world so we’re extremely happy. We’re not happy we gave up a set but we’re happy with the final result, which is what matters, we get the three points. "Tomorrow we’re going to go out there and try and get the win, like in every game. We feel like we need to get a rhythm going a little better, so tomorrow’s going to be a test to see how we fare against a team from the top eight, so we’re looking forward to tomorrow."

Argentina advanced from Pool D after battling back from a set down to defeat the Czech Republic 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 27-25, 25-23). The Argentinians also had to fight back from a deficit in the fourth set, breaking a 23- all deadlock and finally securing the decisive two points. Opposite spiker German Alfredo Gomez was their top scorer with 17 points, all in attack, while middle blocker Imanol Salazar had 12, five of which were block points.

Outside hitter Jan Krca was the leading Czech scorer with 16 markers. In Belgium’s 3-1 (25-23, 16-25, 25-22, 25-20) triumph against the US, opposite spiker Ferre Reggers had a game-best 22 points, while Jippe Schroeven added 10. Shane Wetzel paced the Americans with 16 in the loss.

In the top eight, the teams will be divided into another two pools to determine the semi-finalists following a single round-robin. Those that do not make it through will play in the consolation bracket for ninth to 16th positions overall.