Bahrain and China will face off today in the last Pool D fixture of the 2022 Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup for Men in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.
Both teams have already qualified for the next stage of the 11-team competition but both will be seeking a win to ensure that they enter that round as group leaders since tournament rules state that points accumulated in the preliminary round are carried over.
Tournament debutants Bahrain stunned Chinese Taipei 3-0 in straight sets on Sunday while China also defeated the third side in Pool D by a 3-1 margin yesterday. The top two teams in each group qualify for the next stage.
Bahrain will hoping that wing spiker Naser Anan, who starred in Sunday’s win with 14 points, can repeat his outstanding performance in Sunday’s giant-slaying victory when his team, currently 71st in the FIVB world rankings, upset Chinese Taipei, who are ranked 30th.
China, ranked 19th in the world, will be much stronger opponents, especially with the formidable quartet of Zhang Jingyin, Yu Yuantai, Dai Qingyao and Li Yongzhen in top form, as was evident in their hard-fought victory over Chinese Taipei.
But Bahrain’s own Anan, Abbas Al Khabbaz, Hussain Aljeshi and Mohamed Aldawiri, along with Mohamed Abdulla, also had a good outing in their first game and head coach, Issanaye Ramiress Ferraz, who spoke in glowing terms about his team after Sunday’s match, will be hoping his men can topple the Chinese too.
However, China are tournament favourites and, despite the fact that they will be playing their second game in successive days while Bahrain will have had the benefit of a day’s rest, unlikely to be pushovers.
Should Bahrain win and top their pool as a result, they will play Pakistan, who placed second in Pool B, on Thursday. Should they lose today’s match, they will play Iran – ranked eighth in the world and first in Asia – in the main round game, also scheduled for Thursday.
The Bahrain-China clash today will start at 2pm, Bahrain time.