Dar Kulaib win semis opener over Nasser

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com     

Bahrain league champions Dar Kulaib took a one-game lead in their best-of-three semi-final series against Al Nasser last night in the 2023 Crown Prince’s Cup volleyball tournament.

Dar Kulaib, the tournament’s three-time defending titlists, battled back from a set down to defeat their rivals 3-1 (23-25, 25- 23, 25-20, 25-22) in the opening meeting of their hotly contested match-up, played at Isa bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at the Bahrain Volleyball Association headquarters at Isa Sports City in Riffa.

Dar Kulaib are now a win away from advancing to the competition’s final. They will be hoping to close out their series in game two on Wednesday next week, which is scheduled for a 5.30pm start to kick off a double-header for that evening.

Nasser will be hoping to force a decisive third outing, which will take place Saturday next week, if required.

Dar Kulaib, coached by Brazilian Leandro Kakaroto, were led in last night’s win by star players Mohammed Yaqoob, Mahmoud Abdulwahed and Argentinian professional Juan Barrera, while getting key contributions from Abdulla Mohammed, Ali Habib, libero Hussain Sultan, Hassan Alaiwi and Ayman Isa.

Nasser, guided by Brazilian tactician Sergio Luis Cunha, relied on Yousef Khalid, Younes Abdulkarim, Mohammed Omar, Hussain Mahdi, Mohammed Jassim, Jassim Al Turki and Ebrahim Mohammed, and were playing without an import.

All four sets last night were tightly fought.

After Nasser took an 18-15 lead in the first, Dar Kulaib battled back to make it 23-24, but an Omar spike helped Nasser secure the early match-advantage.

Dar Kulaib were then more dominant in the second, and although Nasser got close, an Abdulwahed attack levelled the match at 1-1.

In set three, Dar Kulaib built on their momentum to comfortably take the set by five points and go ahead 2-1, before coming up with the big plays in the fourth to secure the final result.