VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain are hoping to make a strong start today in the boys’ volleyball tournament of the third Asian Youth Games, currently being hosted by the kingdom.
Bahrain’s youth volleyball national team head coach Santiago Faidutti from Argentina highlighted yesterday the challenge of playing in any tournament’s opening game, stressing its importance to help set a tone for the remainder of the competition.
“For sure, the first match is always the most difficult,” Faidutti told the GDN as the nationals continued to gear up for their opening Pool A assignment against Pakistan this evening.
“When you begin a new championship, everybody is nervous, and you need to be really strong mentally to start well.
“But after you pass this first game, you are more ready. You are in the tournament and your mentality changes, so for sure the first game is always very important.”
Bahrain’s clash with Pakistan is scheduled for a 7pm start at Hall C of Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The Pakistanis were already in action last night against Mongolia, as all three sides aim to make it out of Pool A and claim a berth in the elite eight.
There, the eight teams that advance from their pools will be divided into two more groups, and after a single round-robin – in which head-to-head results from the preliminaries are carried over – the pairings in the quarter-finals will be determined.
Faidutti says that his team is ready to take on the continent’s best in this edition of the Asian Youth Games, and they are hoping to continue their recent good form, which includes a silver medal finish at the 17th Arab Junior Volleyball Championship in Amman, Jordan last August.
“We started preparing for the Asian Youth Games around six months ago – we did two camps in Egypt, then we had the Arab championship in Jordan,” Faidutti explained.
“We’ve had really good preparations recently and we are ready.”
“I feel that we just need to come back to our best level, which we showed in the first camp and in Amman, but I think when the tournament starts, we will be back at our best.”
Faidutti identified Iran as favourites to claim gold in Bahrain.
They are in a tough Pool B alongside China and Qatar.
Pool C is composed only of Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia after Kazakhstan’s last-minute withdrawal, while Pool D features Chinese Taipei, Thailand, and Indonesia.
“Iran are one of the best teams in the world and for sure they are the strongest team in this tournament,” Faidutti said.
“But I think the rest of the teams are on the same level.”
“In our camp, we played against Argentina and Brazil in friendly games and they played against Uzbekistan and Pakistan in their recent world championship, which is a reference for us.
“Last week, we played against Saudi Arabia and we were at the same level. It’s going to be a really close tournament, and any team can win. But today, I think Iran are the favourites.”
Faidutti called on Bahrain’s volleyball fans to attend their games and support the national team as it will give them a major boost.
“Playing in front of friends and family is going to be really good for us,” Faidutti said.
“We need the support of the fans, the family, and the friends in each game.”
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