VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN’S Muharraq bowed out of title contention last night in the 44th Arab Club Men’s Volleyball Championship, currently being played in Tunis, Tunisia.
The kingdom’s lone representatives in the Arab Volleyball Association (AVA) competition went down fighting against home side Etoile Sportive du Sahel 1-3 (25-20, 24-26, 22-25, 21-25), who were boosted by their home crowd in an exciting semi-final clash.
The Bahrainis won the first set but agonisingly missed out on taking a commanding 2-0 advantage in the second. Their opponents rallied from there, closing out the match in the next two frames to claim their place in the title-decider.
Muharraq took the court yesterday less than 24 hours after winning their quarter-final fixture 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-17) against Qatar SC, played late Wednesday night.
Muharraq, coached by Bahraini tactician Yaseen Al Meel, competed in the tournament with a squad that was spearheaded by Swedish professional Jacob Link and Polish import Mateusz Jozwik. They also had strong contributions from their Bahraini contingent featuring Nasser Anan, Mahmood Alafyah, Sayed Hashem Isa, Hussain Ehsan, Mohammed Abdulla, Mohammed Omar, Mohammed Khalil, Abbas Al Khabbaz, Majeed Mohammed, and Bader Hussain.
With their ranking amongst the top four, Muharraq improved on the ninth-place classification achieved by fellow-Bahraini outfit Dar Kulaib in the competition’s previous edition, held last year in Doha, Qatar.
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