Bahrain’s senior men’s volleyball national team powered to their second successive victory last night in the first WAVA Men’s Volleyball Championship 2025, currently being hosted by the kingdom.
The Bahrainis outclassed their counterparts from Jordan 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-12) to continue their hot start to the competition at Isa Bin Rashid Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The hosts were firing on all cylinders, outplaying their opponents in all aspects of the Pool A contest.
Also taking victories yesterday on the second day of action were Kuwait, the UAE, and Qatar.
The Kuwaitis needed to go the distance in defeating Saudi Arabia in five sets for their first win of the tournament, while the Emiratis and Qataris triumphed against Lebanon and Oman, respectively, both in four-setters.
Like Bahrain, the UAE and Qatar stayed unbeaten in their two games so far.
Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa attended yesterday’s games along with other high-ranking officials from the BVA and West Asia Volleyball Association (WAVA).
The tournament’s preliminary round concludes today with the last four fixtures of this stage. Jordan and Lebanon face off at 1pm, followed by Oman taking on Saudi Arabia at 3pm. Kuwait then lock horns with Qatar at 5pm, and Bahrain go up against the UAE for Pool A supremacy at 7pm.
Entry to the competition is free. All are welcome to attend and watch the exciting volleyball action.
In Bahrain’s victory last night, they fell behind early but eventually found their groove and tied it at 9-apiece. They scored the next two points to move ahead and then continued their resurgence with a Mohammed Jassim spike that he followed with a block for an 18-13 advantage. Naser Anan later earned them set point, and then an error by Jordan gifted the first set to Bahrain.
The nationals carried their momentum into the second and a Hassan Al Warqaa attack put them in front 9-5. They stretched their lead to 16-9 on a Mahmood Al Afyah block, and he later delivered an ace to put Bahrain up 20-10. After a Mohammed Anan spike gave Bahrain set point, the Jordanians once again assisted in closing things out with a service error.
Smelling blood in the water, the Bahrainis went for the kill and were dominant in the third set. Back-to-back aces from Mohammed Anan set the tone for the team, as Hani Alawi had a smash that made it 10-4. Sayed Hashem Issa later delivered an ace for a 19-7 lead, and the nationals finished their opponents off for yet another big win.
With Bahrain’s French head coach Arnaud Josserand giving more playing time to his regular bench players, their score sheet featured a balanced output. Three finished with six points apiece, including Mohammed Anan, Al Warqaa, and Mohammed Yaqoob, while Ali Ebrahim and Mahmoud Abdulwahed had five each. Naser Anan, Al Afyah, Jassim, and Issa chipped in with four points each.
Rashed Al Alwan led Jordan with nine points.
Also in Pool A yesterday, the UAE overcame a tough challenge against Lebanon 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20). They claimed their second successive win and will be hoping to keep it up when they battle the hosts in an exciting clash tonight.
Mohammed Alsuwaidi was in sensational form for the Emiratis yesterday, racking up a game-high 33 points, five of which came on blocks.
The Lebanese lost for the second time and are still looking for their first win.
In Kuwait’s win against the Saudis in Pool B, they shrugged off a poor start and then came up with the big plays in the tie-break for a hard-earned 3-2 (17-25, 29-27, 25-23, 20-25, 15-13) triumph.
Rashed Anbar was the top scorer for the winners with 27 points, while Marwan Al Hawsawi had 26 points to pace the Saudis, who suffered their second straight defeat.
Also in Pool B last night, Qatar battled past Oman 3-1 (25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 25-16). Ribeiro Renan and Youssef Oughlaf were their leading scorers with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Their play helped thwart the effort of Oman’s Ismail Al Hidi, who led all scorers with 24 points in Oman’s first loss of the tournament.
Following this single round-robin, all eight teams will advance to the cross quarter-finals to begin the knockouts. The match-ups will be based on their seedings from their groups.
The semi-finals will follow along with the concluding classification games, leading up to the gold and bronze medal contests.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))