VOLLEYBALL – DAR Kulaib came away with a hard-earned victory over Al Nasser in a thrilling five-setter last night to wrap up week nine of the Top Six round in the 2024-25 Isa Bin Rashid Bahrain Volleyball League.
The two-time defending champions needed to dig themselves out of a 0-2 hole in order to claim the come-from-behind result at Isa Bin Rashid Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
Dar Kulaib were made to sweat all the way until the final ball in the tie-break as Nasser fought valiantly.
The victors’ Bahraini pairing of Fadhel Abbas and Mahmood Abdulwahed came up big down the stretch, as did Croatian opposite Tomislav Mitrasinovic. Nasser were carried by the strong play of Pakistan national team captain Murad Jehan, but it wasn’t enough in the end as Dar Kulaib pulled off the 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 16-14) decision.
Dar Kulaib claimed a crucial fifth win after nine matches in this stage, solidifying their hopes of securing a place in the Golden Square semi-finals. Nasser are already out of the running for the last four but are playing for pride. They suffered their ninth straight loss and stayed winless in the Top Six with just one match remaining.
In their win, Dar Kulaib came alive in the third set in the face of defeat. Mitrasinovic delivered the decisive point to get them back in the fight, and then they rode their momentum into a dominant fourth when a clever tap over the net by Fadhel Abbas levelled the contest at two sets apiece.
In the fifth, Nasser took the early advantage but Dar Kulaib eventually went ahead on a Fadhel Abbas service ace. A Hassan Abbas block on Nasser’s Hussain Al Jishi then made it 11-8, but Jehan would not let his team go down without a fight and scored on back-to-back attacks to make it 14-all.
That set the stage, however, for Dar Kulaib’s winners, which came on a big Mitrasinovic smash followed by an Abdulwahed game-clincher.
In another affair held as part of the ninth week of the Top Six, Muharraq powered past Nabih Saleh in four sets.
After splitting the first two frames, Muharraq powered ahead in the third behind the impressive showing of Naser Anan, Sayed Hashem Issa, Ali Al Sairafi, Abbas Al Khabbaz, Mohammed Omar, and Swedish import Jacob Link.
They went on to secure the final result with a 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-23) score line.
Muharraq claimed their sixth win in nine matches and strengthened their hold on second place on the standings, behind only undefeated leaders Al Ahli, ahead of the Golden Square. They handed Nabih Saleh a crucial sixth loss to go with three wins heading into the final series of Top Six matches next week.
The 10th and concluding week of the Top Six is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Nasser take on Najma, Muharraq face off with Ahli, and Nabih Saleh go up against Dar Kulaib. Those games will decide the final cast of clubs in the Golden Square.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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