Hosts Bahrain delighted their home fans with an impressive victory over Egypt in the opening match of the 2017 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship, which got underway yesterday in spectacular fashion.
In the other matches, played across two halls at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa, Puerto Rico and France grinded out a pair of tough five-set victories; Italy powered past the Czech Republic, and Japan, Russia, South Korea and China all enjoyed comfortable straight-set wins.
The Bahrainis had a dream start to their Pool A campaign in the tournament’s preliminary round with a well-deserved 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 19-25, 25-20) victory over their Egyptian counterparts.
The nationals started strong and did well to bounce back after losing the third set. They were boosted on the night by the massive crowd of jubilant supporters who flocked to the venue.
Husain Thamer led the victors with 21 big points. Sayed Alabbar added 10, while Hasan Haider and Mahmood Abdulhusain each scored nine. Haider also had four blocks, while Mohamed Jasim finished with six.
“This is a good start for us,” Bahrain head coach Yousef Khalifa said. “This is the world championship; we must play every game like champions.
“It is only our first game and we all felt plenty of pressure. But our players still have more to give, and I hope we can continue to play like this in our next games, especially tomorrow against the USA.”
Team captain Said Yusuf added: “A big thanks to our fans and to all who supported us. This win gives us a big boost in confidence.”
In the day’s other Pool A contest, Puerto Rico and Tunisia battled it out in a five-set thriller that went the distance. The Puerto Ricans fought back after twice going down a set, and then showed their end-game poise in claiming a nail-biting 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 30-32, 25-22, 17-15) win.
They secured the deciding two points in the game with a soft shot from the middle and a Tunisian error in attack.
Meanwhile, France pulled off their own stunning five-set victory over Brazil in Pool B. They too had to make their way back into the match after losing the first two sets before turning things around for a 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-17, 17-15) triumph.
Also in Pool B, Japan were big winners today following a surprising 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-21) triumph over Cuba. Kento Miyaura and Tatsunori Otsuka each scored 11 points to spearhead the victors.
In Pool C, Russia cruised past Turkey 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-12); and South Korea followed suit with their own commanding 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-21) victory against Chile.
In Pool D, Italy defeated the Czech Republic 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 19-25, 30-28). It was a tightly contested game between the pair of European powerhouses.
China ousted Mexico 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-19) to open their Pool D campaign on a positive note. The victors were led by the 18 points of wing spiker Cong Tian.
Action continues today with another eight matches scheduled to be played at the same venue. All are welcome to attend. Tickets can be bought at the gate at 500 fils apiece.