VOLLEYBALL – THE stage is set for three straight days of exciting volleyball action this week in the preliminary round, starting Tuesday, of the sixth AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025.
The competition, being hosted by the kingdom for the second straight year, features 11 of the top senior men’s volleyball national teams from across the continent.
The tournament is being organised by the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) in cooperation with the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) and Volleyball World.
It is to be held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Headlining the field are the tournament’s defending champions Qatar, who arrived in Bahrain yesterday ahead of the start of pool play.
The Qataris are also the top-ranked team in the world that will be hitting the courts at Isa Bin Rashid Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa. They are classified 24th on the latest edition of the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Ranking, released yesterday by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), the sport’s worldwide governing body.
Last year’s bronze-medallists South Korea follow not far behind as the 26th best team in the world, while Australia are 33rd, Chinese Taipei 45th, and 2024 silver-medallists Pakistan 49th.
Amongst the other squads competing in the kingdom, Indonesia are 54th in the world, Vietnam are 55th, the Philippines 62nd, Thailand 63rd, and hosts Bahrain are 65th.
New Zealand, who are also playing in this week’s AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup, are currently not on the world rankings.
Kazakhstan, who are 59th in the world, have withdrawn from taking part, the competition’s executive committee announced yesterday.
Meanwhile, participating squads that are already in Bahrain have begun their final training sessions at the tournament venue and at local clubs.
Bahrain’s senior men’s squad resumed their preparations locally after returning from their overseas training camp in Cairo, Egypt. They practised yesterday under the supervision of national team head coach Arnaud Josserand.
BVA president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa visited the team during training and wished them all the best in the tournament.
The Bahrainis are in Pool A for the first stage alongside Thailand and Indonesia. A reduced Pool B following Kazakhstan’s exit features Qatar and Australia; Pool C is composed of Pakistan, Chinese Taipei, and the Philippines; and Pool D includes South Korea, Vietnam, and New Zealand.
With Kazakhstan’s withdrawal, a new tournament schedule was issued last night. Matches in the preliminary round are scheduled to start from 2pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, with three games apiece on both days; while Thursday’s four-fixture schedule will begin from 11.30am. The last matches of each day will start no earlier than 7pm.
Entrance for all games is free of charge.
Teams will compete in a single round-robin, and then the top two from each pool will advance to the quarter-finals. The remaining sides will compete in classification matches for ninth to 11th place.
Aside from tournament glory, the participating squads will also be gunning for a spot at the 2026 Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship, which will be taken by the champions.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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