VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN is set to host the first West Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship later this month.
The tournament is scheduled to be held from July 17 to 27, with eight of the region’s volleyball juggernauts taking part.
The competition is being organised by the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) in co-operation with the West Asia Volleyball Association (WAVA), headquartered in Doha, Qatar.
The draw for the event’s preliminary round was held virtually yesterday, supervised by WAVA, and attended by Bahrain’s senior men’s national team head coach Arnaud Josserand and other BVA officials.
The hosts are set to play in Group A along with the UAE, Jordan, and Lebanon, while Group B is composed of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
The schedule of matches has yet to be released for the event. All games are set to take place at Isa bin Rashid Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
Bahrain’s hosting of the West Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship follows its successful staging of the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025, held last month.
Eleven senior men’s squads from across the continent took part in that competition, in which Bahrain made history by claiming their first-ever title in an Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) event. Four of the kingdom’s players also came away with individual awards, including Mohammed Yaqoob, who bagged the Most Valuable Player and Best Outside Hitter honours. Ali Ebrahim was named Best Opposite Spiker, Mahmood Alafyah was Best Setter, and Ayman Harwana was Best Libero.
It was the second major achievement for the kingdom’s nationals in less than a year, as they had also bagged the title in the 23rd Arab Men’s Volleyball Championship, hosted by Bahrain last November.
The AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup was the first tournament with Josserand in charge. The former Olympian from France had taken over for Argentinian tactician Jorge Elgueta, who had guided the nationals to their Arab title.
The Bahrainis will be hoping to continue their magnificent run in the upcoming West Asian competition, but will face a stiff challenge.
Amongst the participating nations, the Bahrainis and Qataris are the only two teams currently on the Official International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Men’s Volleyball World Ranking.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))