VOLLEYBALL – HOSTS Bahrain barged into the semi-finals of the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025 last night.
The Bahrainis put on a masterful performance in a resounding 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 35-33) victory against Chinese Taipei in front of a large and vibrant crowd at Isa bin Rashid Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and other high-ranking BVA officials were in attendance.
The nationals are next set to take on continental heavyweights South Korea – bronze-medallists from last year’s edition of the competition – in the last four, scheduled for tomorrow. The South Koreans defeated Australia in another quarter-final clash yesterday.
The other semi-final fixture is between defending champions Qatar and last year’s silver-medallists Pakistan. Their game will be a rematch of the 2024 title-decider.
The Qataris survived a tough test against Vietnam in a thrilling five-setter last night, while Pakistan outclassed Indonesia in four sets to march through.
In Bahrain’s victory last night, the nationals were dominant in the opening set and then did enough in the second to take a commanding two-set lead.
But Chinese Taipei fought valiantly in the third, and were leading most of the way, until the very end. The Bahrainis saved two set points to keep their bid for a sweep alive, and then the two teams traded jabs like a pair of prize fighters, with neither giving in.
Bahrain finally got their winner with a double-block by opposite spiker Ali Ebrahim and middle blocker Mohammed Jassim Abdulla on Chinese Taipei outside hitter Yi-Kai Wen, ending the marathon third set.
“I was scared, to be honest,” Bahrain head coach Arnaud Josserand told the GDN with a smile.
“In the second set, we had some moments where our concentration went down, and the plan we played with in the beginning was not applied as I would have liked to.
“In the third set, I said ‘Guys, we need to try and finish this because they were trailing against Pakistan 0-2 but then they came back and had two game balls, so we need to be careful’.
“That’s what happened – they were leading the whole third, then we came back, went to the front, but then they came back again – they are a good team and you must not underestimate anyone.”
Josserand praised Bahrain’s players for their end-game poise. “I’m really happy to have won 3-0, I was not expecting it,” said the Frenchman, who is a former Olympian. “It’s the mentality of the players – they finished the game.”
Of their upcoming semi-final against South Korea, Josserand said: “For me, South Korea are probably the best team of the competition. I feel they are really strong, but we’re going to play like we played from the beginning – get on the court, and try to win every game.”
Ebrahim was Bahrain’s leading scorer in the game with 17 points, while outside hitter Mohammed Yaqoob chipped in with 15. Abdulla and skipper Naser Anan contributed 10 points apiece, while middle blocker Hasan Warqaa scored eight.
For Chinese Taipei, opposite spiker Yu-Sheng Chang scored 20 points, while outside hitter Yi-Kai Wen had 12 in the losing effort. Chinese Taipei will next play in the fifth-to-eighth classification bracket.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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