Bahrain to host Asian volleyball

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain is set to host one of the top continental volleyball competitions later this summer. The 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Men will be held between June 2 and 9 at Isa Bin Rashid Arena in Isa Sports City, Riffa.

The tournament is set to feature a field of 12 teams from across the continent. Aside from battling for the coveted title, they will also be vying for the lone berth in the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup, due to take place in July.

The Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) confirmed the Kingdom’s hosting yesterday. It will be the first time this senior men’s national team event will be held in Bahrain.

The seniors’ tournament will be the first of two leading volleyball competitions under the AVC to take place on the island this year.

Bahrain is also set to host Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship from July 28 to August 4, which is set to feature 16 youth national squads.

For this year’s AVC Challenge Cup for Men, the draw for the event’s preliminary round will be held on May 3.

The 12 national teams set to compete include hosts Bahrain, defending champions Thailand, the five best-ranked teams of the previous AVC Challenge Cup for Men, and the five teams with the best world rankings.

In case the teams have no world rankings, the qualified sides will be decided by the AVC, Volleyball World, and the organisers.

Roster The complete roster of participants will be confirmed later this month prior to the draw. The eventual winners in this much-anticipated tournament will earn the right to compete in the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup later this year.

The previous edition of the AVC Challenge Cup for Men was held in Chinese Taipei last year, with 15 teams participating.

There, Bahrain finished as silver-medallists after losing to Thailand in the final. It was the Bahrainis’ first and only medal so far in the tournament, which is being held for the fifth time. South Korea powered past Vietnam 3-1 to come away with the bronze medals.

Australia came in fifth, ranked sixth through 15th, respectively, were Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, Hong Kong-China, Macao-China, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and India.

In that event, national team stars Mohammed Yaqoob, Ali Ebrahim, and Ayman Haroona each came away with an individual award for their fine performances.

Yaqoob took home the Best Outside Hitter award, while Ebrahim was named the Best Opposite Spiker. Haroona was honoured as the tournament’s Best Libero.

By playing in last year’s gold medal game, Bahrain made national sporting history after qualifying for their first-ever title-decider at the senior men’s level in any AVC tournament.