VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN claimed an impressive four-set victory over Saudi Arabia in an international friendly match played at Isa Bin Rashid Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The game was part of the kingdom’s senior men’s volleyball national team’s preparations for the first WAVA Men’s Volleyball Championship 2025, which is set to be hosted by the kingdom starting Saturday.
Eight nations are competing in the event, which is being organised by the West Asia Volleyball Association (WAVA) and the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA).
Bahrain head coach Arnaud Josserand fielded all of his players during the tune-up. After splitting the first two sets, the nationals rallied to take the win with a final 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16) score line.
The Bahrainis are expected to be led in the upcoming regional meeting by their top stars including Mohammed Yaqoob, Naser Anan, Mohammed Anan, Mahmood Alafyah, Ayman Harwana, Hasan Al Warqaa, and Ali Ebrahim, who has recovered from a recent injury and played in the friendly against Saudi.
In the competition’s preliminary round, Bahrain are in Group A along with the UAE, Jordan, and Lebanon, while Group B is composed of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.
Following a single round-robin, all eight teams will advance to the cross quarter-finals to begin the knockouts. The semi-finals will follow along with the concluding classification games, leading up to the gold and bronze medal contests.
The Bahrainis’ participation in the WAVA event comes less than a month after securing an historic crown in the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025, also hosted by the kingdom in June. It was the national team’s first-ever title in an Asian Volleyball Confederation tournament, and the second major achievement for the kingdom’s spikers in less than a year, as they had also bagged the title in the 23rd Arab Men’s Volleyball Championship, held in Bahrain last November.
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