VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain’s Dar Kulaib made it two wins from two games yesterday in the preliminary round of the fourth Wava Men’s Clubs Volleyball Championship, currently being played in Kuwait City.
Dar Kulaib powered to an impressive 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) sweep of Kuwaiti outfit Burgan SC to continue their strong start to the West Asia Volleyball Association (Wava) tournament.
The result followed their opening win in four sets against Seeb Club from Oman last week as they strengthened their chances of advancing to the elite eight as one of the top contenders from Group C.
Dar Kulaib took early control of yesterday’s contest and were first to double digits in the first set after Hassan Alwarqaa had a monster block for a 10-7 lead.
Mahmoud Abdulwahed then scored with a spike that made it 20-13, and later Ali Marhoon secured their one-set advantage when his tipped effort at the net was not received.
Dar Kulaib maintained their fine play in the second frame and three unanswered points, capped by a Marhoon service ace, gave them a commanding 14-6 lead.
Burgan fought back to within three points late in the set, but Dar Kulaib had the answers, which led to a Hassan Alaiwi spike that sealed their 2-0 cushion.
The Bahrainis then went for the kill in the third set. They used a 7-2 run to turn a slim 10-7 edge to 17-9, and they never looked back from there.
Abdulwahed then put them on the brink of victory, and Marhoon delivered match point with a clinching block on a Burgan attack.
With their second win in the bag, Dar Kulaib will be looking to close out their Group C campaign with a victory in their final game against Ittihad Club from Saudi Arabia, which is scheduled to be played today at 2pm, Bahrain time.
Dar Kulaib, coached Ivan Joksimovic from Montenegro, are one of two Bahraini clubs in this year’s Wava Men’s Clubs Volleyball Championship, which features 11 competing teams from across the region.
Al Ahli are the other, and they are competing in Group B. They too have won both their games so far and will be aiming for a positive finish to this stage when they face hosts Kuwait SC tonight at 6pm, also Bahrain time.
Ahli, who were the bronze medallists from the previous edition of the tournament hosted last year by the kingdom, are coached by Renato Castro from Brazil.
Their first two wins came against Al Wakrah SC from Qatar and Club Jeunesse Sportif Batroun from Lebanon.
Dar Kulaib and Ahli are vying not only for the Wava title, but also for a berth in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Men’s Champions League 2026 in Pontianak, Indonesia, set from May 13 to 17.
Following today’s completion of a single round-robin, the top two teams from each of the three preliminary round pools move on to the knockout quarters along with the two best third-placed sides. The last eight will be held on Tuesday.
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 Saturday.
Classification matches to determine the rest of the final rankings will also be held over the concluding week from Wednesday to Friday.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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