Bahrainis step up preparations for West Asian volleyball

TDT | Manama           

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s youth national volleyball team have stepped up their preparations for the upcoming West Asian U19 Volleyball Championship 2023. The competition is scheduled to be held from 15 to 25 August in Jeddah with the participation of eight teams.

The Bahrainis are in Group A along with Syria, Kuwait and the UAE, while Group B comprises Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The competition’s organising committee has released the schedule for the preliminary round.

Bahrain open their campaign against the Kuwaitis on 17 August before taking on their Emirati counterparts the next evening. The nationals then play Syria in their concluding group stage game on 19 August.

The Bahrainis are coached by Tunisian Saber Abdulwahed. They are currently preparing for the tournament with a 13-player squad but are expected to trim the roster to 12 for the event. The list includes Mohammed Redha, Mahdi Hussain, Hussain Ali Radhi, Hussain Issa, Hassan Naema, Hassan Al Warqa, Mohammed Hassan Nasser, Hussain Ismail, Ali Hussain Issa, Abdulla Al Haiki, Abbas Ehsan, Mohammed Anwar and Mohammed Al Khabbaz.

Last year, Bahrain took part in the West Asian U20 Volleyball Championship in Dammam and finished as the silver-medallists behind gold medal winners Saudi. Iraq came away with the bronze medals. The nationals settled for the runner-up spot after losing in the final in three sets to the Saudis. The under-20 event was its first edition of the WAVA competition.