VOLLEYBALL – Hosts Bahrain punched their ticket last night to the final of the first WAVA Men’s Volleyball Championship.
The kingdom’s senior men’s volleyball national team continued their quest to make history at home with a hard-earned 3-1 (26-28, 25-16, 25-22, 25-22) win against Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia at Isa Bin Rashid Volleyball Arena, located at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The Bahrainis narrowly lost the opening set – their first of the entire competition – but roared back and dominated the second. They then carried their momentum over to the next two frames to power on to big victory.
The Bahrainis now move on to face continental powerhouses Qatar in the final, which is scheduled for 7pm this evening to headline the concluding day of the competition.
The Qataris were 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-20) winners against Oman in yesterday’s other semi-final contest.
Prior to the gold medal clash, the Saudis and Omanis will face off for the tournament’s bronze medals at 4pm. The closing ceremony and awards presentation will follow right after. Entry is free and all are welcome to attend.
Bahrain are aiming to capture their third major title in less than a year, having also previously won the crowns in both the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025 last month and the 23rd Arab Men’s Volleyball Championship in November of last year.
In attendance for Bahrain’s win last night was Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, along with other high-ranking BVA and West Asia Volleyball Association (WAVA) officials.
It was an evenly contested start to the match and Bahrain were first to double digits following a service error by the Saudis. Ali Ebrahim later had a powerful spike and Mohammed Jassim contributed the same to push the nationals ahead 21-17. But Saudi were resilient, and strong play from Muwaffaq Almutairi and Marwan Alhawsawi helped them forge a 25-all deadlock. Mohammed Adel then put them 27-26 in front, and an Alhawsawi ace down the line stunned the Bahrainis and gave the visitors the early match advantage.
The home team were not to be denied in the second set, however, and they were firing on all cylinders, with Mohammed Yaqoob and Naser Anan leading the way. A Yaqoob attack made it 14-7, and later a sensational point from Anan put them up 23-13. Anan gave them set point with a block out, and then the Saudis had an error on serve to gift Bahrain the set-clincher.
Bahrain maintained their fine form starting set three and spikes from Jassim, Mahmood Alafyah, and Anan gave them an 8-3 advantage. But the Saudis scored on the next four rallies and later took a brief lead at 19-18. The Bahrainis responded well, with points from Anan and his brother Mohammed Anan giving them a 22-20 edge. Anan then converted two decisive points to give the nationals the crucial two-sets-to-one cushion.
Bahrain then went for the kill in the fourth set, with key points from Yaqoob, Hasan Al Warqaa, and the Anan siblings lifting their side. Anan had three straight points to make it 21-18, but Saudi put up one last stand and got to within 21-22. But their challenge faded in the end, and they conceded match point with a gaffe on serve. Adel then misfired on his attack to seal the match for the Bahrainis.
Anan posted a team-high 17 points for the Arnaud Josserand-coached victors, while Yaqoob chipped in with 14 and Ebrahim had 11. Mohammed Anan and Al Warqaa added eight points apiece, while Alafyah and Jassim scored five each for Bahrain.
Alhawsawi finished with 24 points for Saudi in the losing effort.
In Qatar’s triumph last night, Raimi Wadidie had a game-high 17 points to help spearhead his side to the win. Youssef Oughlaf chipped in with 14 in the game.
Also yesterday, Kuwait clinched fifth place overall on the tournament’s final ranking while Jordan secured seventh place overall.
The Kuwaitis defeated the UAE 3-0 (25-17, 30-28, 25-17) to claim the leading spot outside of the top four. The Jordanians, on the other hand, beat Lebanon 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-23) in their concluding classification fight.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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