Bahrain lose five-set thriller to Indonesia

TDT | Manama              

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain put in a valiant effort in a tough, five-set loss against South East Asian Games champions Indonesia yesterday in the fourth AVC Men Challenger, currently being held in Taipei.

The senior men’s national volleyball team came on the verge of victory, leading after three sets, but could not close out the contest and fell to a thrilling 2-3 (31-33, 27-25, 25- 21, 23-25, 11-15) defeat.

The game was their second in Pool F of the preliminary round. It followed their opening win against Sri Lanka. Despite the loss, the Bahrainis are already through to the tournament’s final 12 as their group runners-up.

There are six pools in all in this round. The second-ranked teams to advance will have a draw to see which of the pool winners they will go up against in the final 12. The Bahrainis are still to learn of their opponents in the game that will be played tomorrow. There are 15 teams taking part in Taipei in this Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) event.

They are vying for the top honours and a lone berth in the 2023 edition of the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup (VCC) in Qatar later this month. The winner of the 2023 VCC shall be promoted and compete in the 2024 edition of the Volleyball Nations League.