VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN’S Dar Kulaib made a winning start to their title bid yesterday in the fourth Wava Men’s Clubs Volleyball Championship, which is currently being played in Kuwait City.
Dar Kulaib battled back from a set down to defeat Al Seeb from Oman 3-1 (31-33, 25-15, 25-20, 25-16) in an exciting Group C preliminary round clash.
Dar Kulaib are one of 11 top volleyball teams from across the region in the West Asia Volleyball Association (Wava) tournament. They are representing Bahrain alongside Al Ahli Club, who are in Group B.
The participating squads are not only vying for the West Asian title, but also for a berth in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Men’s Champions League 2026 in Pontianak, Indonesia, from May 13 to 17.
Dar Kulaib fell behind early against Seeb yesterday following an extended, see-saw first set. They trailed 10-14 but roared back for a 20-19 lead, gifted to them by a Seeb error in attack. But the Omanis recovered and the two teams exchanged points until a timely block by Kenyan professional Enock Mogeni tied it at 31-all. Seeb then scored the next two points with a service ace earning them the single-set advantage.
In the second frame, Dar Kulaib were the aggressors from the start. They built an 18-11 advantage on a Mahmoud Abdulwahed spike, and later an Ali Marhoon smash gave them the set to forge the 1-1 tie.
Dar Kulaib, coached Ivan Joksimovic from Montenegro, continued their strong play in the third and after leading 18-17, a Mogeni point and an Abdulwahed ace put them up 20-17. That sent them on their way to the 2-1 lead, with another Marhoon attack closing out the frame.
The Bahrainis then rode their momentum into the fourth set, where they were first to double digits following an Ali Habib ace that made it 10-5. Seeb never recovered and a service error gave Dar Kulaib match point.
Also in Group C of the tournament’s preliminary round are Burgan SC from Kuwait and Ittihad Club from Saudi Arabia. Dar Kulaib are back in action against Burgan tomorrow at 4pm before taking on Ittihad on Sunday at 2pm.
Meanwhile, Ahli also made a positive start in their opening match on Wednesday, sweeping past Al Wakrah SC from Qatar 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-18).
Their next assignment in Group B, which also features Club Jeunesse Sportif (CJS) Batroun from Lebanon and hosts Kuwait SC from Kuwait, is today against CJS Batroun at 2pm. They then complete their schedule on Sunday against Kuwait SC at 6pm.
All times are Bahrain.
Ahli, coached by Renato Castro from Brazil, are competing in the tournament for the third straight edition. They claimed the bronze medals in last year’s event, which was hosted by the kingdom. Group A features defending champions Al Rayyan from Qatar, Majees SC from Oman, and South Gas Sports Club from Iraq.
Following a single round-robin, the top two teams from each of the three pools move on to the knockout quarter-finals along with the two best third-placed sides. The elite eight will be held on Tuesday next week.
The semis are then scheduled for Thursday, which will then set the stage for the gold and bronze medal contests on the championship’s concluding day on February 14. Classification matches to determine the rest of the final rankings will also be held over the concluding week from Wednesday to Friday.
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