VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain champions Dar Kulaib are set to compete in the 43rd Arab Men’s Volleyball Clubs Championship, taking place in Doha, Qatar, from next week.
The Bahrainis are one of 15 teams from nine countries across the region that will be battling it out for the coveted title.
The tournament is being organised and run by the Arab Volleyball Association, which is led by Bahrain Volleyball Association president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, in co-operation with the Qatar Volleyball Association.
The participating squads are from Libya, Oman, the UAE, Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Bahrain, and hosts Qatar.
Dar Kulaib are the only Bahraini team taking part. They are in Group C for the competition’s preliminary round alongside Erbil of Iraq, Al Ahly of Egypt, and Police Union from hosts Qatar.
Group A features Al Suwaihli of Libya, Al Salam from Oman, and Bani Yas from the UAE; Group B is composed of Al Seeb of Oman, Kuwait SC of Kuwait, Al Hilal of Libya, and Zamalek from Egypt; and Group D includes Gaza SC of Palestine, Burgan SC of Kuwait, Qatar SC of Qatar, and Al Jazira Club of the UAE.
Dar Kulaib open their campaign on January 17 against Ahly in a game scheduled for a 6.30pm start. They then take on Police Union on January 19, also at 6.30pm. Their final preliminary round fixture will be against Erbil on January 20 at 4.30pm. All times are Bahrain.
The Bahrainis have been training under the supervision of Argentinian head coach Alejandro Schneider for the tournament, while also competing in the ongoing 2024-25 Isa Bin Rashid Bahrain Volleyball League.
They will be relying on top local players Mahmoud Abdulwahed, Ali Habib, Hassan Al Warqaa, Hassan Alaiwi, Aymen Isa, Ali Khairalla, Abbas Sultan, and Youssef Khalid, among others, against the Arab world’s best, while their rooster has been boosted by the signing of 24-year-old Croatian opposite Tomislav Mitrasinovic, who has recently arrived in the kingdom.
This will be the second straight year that Dar Kulaib are competing in the Arab clubs tournament. They also played in the previous edition in February of 2024, held in Amman, Jordan, where they made it to the quarter-finals but were knocked out of further title contention by Oman’s Seeb in a four-set defeat.
Fellow-Bahraini side Al Najma also took part last year, but they were booted out in the group stage.
In the 2023 event in Cairo, Egypt, Bahrain were represented on the podium by Al Nasser, who claimed the silver medals.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
Top stories for today:
HIGHWAY TO PROGRESS: The Muharraq Ring Road was opened yesterday
Call to extend dates of popular events
Bahrain set to undergo major urban redesign
&uuid=(email))