VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN officially signed last night Ivan Joksimovic from Montenegro as the new head coach of the senior men’s volleyball national team.
Joksimovic penned his agreement with the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) alongside BVA president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and in the presence of BVA secretary general Feras Al Helwachi.
The BVA did not disclose the duration of Joksimovic’s contract but said in a post on social media that his first assignment with the kingdom’s senior men’s squad will be in the fourth GCC Games, scheduled to take place next month in Doha, Qatar.
Also signing on to stay with the national team as Joksimovic’s assistant coach is Bahraini tactician Meshaal Turki, who was a part of the technical staff of Joksimovic’s predecessor, Frenchman Arnaud Josserand.
Joksimovic is currently also the head coach of Dar Kulaib Club’s senior men’s volleyball team, who are currently in prime position to capture the coveted crown in the 2025-26 Isa Bin Rashid Bahrain Volleyball League.
According to the BVA, their deal with Joksimovic was completed following co-ordination and with the agreement of Dar Kulaib management.
Joksimovic has so far helped guide Dar Kulaib to an undefeated record after 24 matches this campaign. They boast 70 points atop the 14-club league table – five ahead of last season’s title winners Muharraq with only two fixtures remaining on each team’s schedule. Al Ahli are a distant third with 62 points and are already out of the running for the championship.
Joksimovic will have big shoes to fill as he takes over for Josserand, who was an ex-Olympian for France. Josserand helped Bahrain capture an historic title in the AVC Men’s Volleyball Nations Cup 2025 – the kingdom’s first-ever crown in any Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) event.
Josserand also helped orchestrate Bahrain’s silver-medal finish in the first West Asia Volleyball Association Men’s Volleyball Championship, as well as winning the bronze medals in the sixth Islamic Solidarity Games, both also held last year.
The fourth GCC Games are slated for May 11 to 22 with elite athletes from all six GCC nations taking part in 19 sports.
The nationals will be playing five games in the men’s volleyball tournament, which will be held in league format. Their opening assignment will be against Oman on May 16. They take on the UAE the next day before battling Kuwait on May 19.
The nationals then face Asian volleyball juggernauts and hosts Qatar on May 20 in their penultimate fixture, after which they complete their schedule against Saudi Arabia on the GCC Games’ concluding day on May 22.
The kingdom’s spikers are expected to be amongst the top contenders for the podium in their sport. They were the silver-medallists in the previous edition of the GCC Games held in Kuwait City in 2022, when Qatar took gold and Oman won the bronze medals.
Bahrain were previously back-to-back champions from the event’s two earlier editions in Dammam, Saudi Arabia in 2015, and in the inaugural GCC Games held at home in 2011.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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