VOLLEYBALL – A full-strength, 14-player Bahrain volleyball national team has been named for the 23rd Arab Men’s Volleyball Championship, which gets underway in the kingdom tomorrow.
Eight of the top senior men’s squads from across the region are taking part in the event, which will be played in Isa Bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The prestigious competition, organised by the Arab Volleyball Association (AVA) in cooperation with the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA), is scheduled to continue until November 10.
Hosts Bahrain are in Group A for the tournament’s preliminary round alongside Oman, Iraq, and Tunisia. Group B features Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.
The kingdom’s squad, coached by former Olympian Jorge Elgueta from Argentina, will be spearheaded by skipper Nasser Anan, Mohammed Yaqoob, and Ali Ebrahim.
The rest of the team includes Mahmood Hassan, Hani Ali, Hassan Al Warqaa, Hussain Mansoor, Abbas Abdulla, Mohammed Anan, Mohammed Jassim, Mohammed Omar, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Mahmoud Abdulwahed, and Sayed Hashem Isa.
The final roster was confirmed yesterday by the BVA.
Two matches are to be held on each of the first four days of play in the preliminaries, from tomorrow until Monday. The last day of the opening stage on Tuesday will feature four matches.
The group phase will determine the seedings for the quarter-finals, which will be held on Thursday next week. The winners of those games move on to the semi-finals on Friday, which will also feature classification games. Matches for final rankings will then take place on the competition’s penultimate day on Saturday next week, with the gold and bronze medal contests on Sunday.
Bahrain take to the court for the first time tomorrow against Iraq in a contest scheduled for a 6.30pm start. They then face Oman on Sunday, before taking on Tunisia on Tuesday.
Bahrain have been crowned champions of the Arab tournament twice in its past editions – first in 1992 and then again in 2008. Egypt are the three-time defending champions but are not taking part this year. Tunisia have won the most titles with seven.
The kingdom’s senior men’s squad are in action for the first time since competing in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Men, which was held in Bahrain last June.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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