VOLLEYBALL – Brave Bahrain had to settle for the silver medals last night as they went down fighting to Qatar who were crowned champions of the first WAVA Men’s Volleyball Championship, which came to a close in the kingdom.
The senior men’s volleyball national team had their dream run in the competition end in a heart-breaking defeat, but they put on a sensational display of grit and came just five points shy of securing the title in front of a packed home crowd at Isa Bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The Qataris lived up to their billing as the tournament’s highest-placed squad in the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Ranking. Twentieth in the world and third in Asia as of yesterday, the visitors cruised in the first two sets and then staved off a furious comeback by the hosts, whose resurgence was spearheaded by their bench.
Qatar finally sealed the win in dramatic fashion, using a video replay challenge on a Mohammed Yaqoob spike that sealed a 3-2 (25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 21-25, 15-13) result. The victors successfully challenged Yaqoob’s potential tying point, which came on a foot fault – making for a stunning end to a hugely exciting contest.
“I’m really proud of what we did – that’s what I told the guys,” Bahrain head coach Arnaud Josserand told the GDN after the final.
“We knew it was going to be difficult because we won against Qatar the last two times we played, so we knew that they wanted to take their revenge, and that’s what they did in the first two sets. They pushed and they pushed, but we changed some things and it worked pretty well.
“We had a hard game against Saudi Arabia [in the semi-finals] yesterday and I think we lost a little bit of an edge in the beginning, but we changed five players and the guys from the bench did an amazing game. We came back like this and if it was not for the challenge in the end, it would be 14-14, so it was really close.
“I’m very proud of the team – sometimes it goes on your side, sometimes on the other side. Qatar played well and they have an experienced side. We were very close to a big victory – we need to accept it.”
Joining Bahrain and Qatar on the podium last night were Oman, who captured the bronze medals after beating their Saudi counterparts 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22) in the game for third place.
Attending last night’s final were Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Bahrain Olympic Committee board member and Bahrain Table Tennis Association president Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, BVA secretary general Feras Al Helwachi, and other BVA and West Asia Volleyball Association (WAVA) officials.
They presented the top three teams their respective trophies and medals during the closing ceremony and prize giving. A number of individual awards were also handed out.
After Bahrain conceded the first two sets last night, their regular second-stringers including Mohammed Anan, Mahmoud Abdulwahed, Hussain Mansoor, Hani Alawi, and Abbas Al Khabbaz stepped up and helped lead a scintillating comeback.
Both the third and fourth sets were sealed by Bahrain following service errors by the Qataris, but they regained their poise to begin the final frame. A block on Yaqoob then gave Qatar a 13-10 edge, but spikes from Anan and Abdulwahed brought the nationals back to within a point. An ensuing Anan error or serve proved crucial as it gave their opponents championship point, but Yaqoob kept Bahrain alive with an attack. To their dismay, however, the Qataris’ challenge following the very next rally on Yaqoob’s foot fault ended the match.
Yaqoob finished as the nationals’ leading scorer with 22 points in the tough loss, while Anan added 17. Abdulwahed scored 11, Alawi had seven, and Al Khabbaz scored five points.
For Qatar, Youssef Oughlaf scored 21, while Ibrahim Mohammed Ibrahim had 14 aand Renan Riberio 13.
In Oman’s win last night, Ismail Al Hidi was their top scorer with 20 points, while Mahmood Al Saadi contributed 18 and Yousif Al Shukaili had 17.
Mohamed Adel had 19 points to pace the Saudis, while Hassan Alabdulbaqi scored 14.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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