VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN’S final 14-player line-up for their highly anticipated title-defence in the AVC Men’s Cup 2026 was confirmed yesterday.
The Bahrainis’ roster, guided by head coach Ivan Joksimovic from Montenegro, features a number of the kingdom’s top spikers, including Hasan Alwarqaa, Mahmood Alafyah, Ali Ebrahim, Sayed Hashem Issa, Abdulla Mohammed Jaafar, and veteran skipper Ayman Harwana.
The rest of the squad includes Ali Habib, Mahmoud Abdulwahed, Mohammed Abdulla, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Abbas Abdulla, Ali Yusuf, Hassan Haider, and Abdulla Ebrahim.
The final team list was shared with the GDN last night by national team manager Ali Al Sayed, who is with the nationals at the tournament venue in Ahmedabad, India.
Bahrain are the tournament’s defending champions, having won the previous edition hosted last year by the kingdom. It was an historic triumph for Bahrain as it was the kingdom’s first-ever championship in any AVC competition.
The result also earned them a spot in the upcoming AVC Volleyball Men’s Continental Championship 2026, which will be held in Fukuoka, Japan, from September 4 to 13.
This year’s AVC Men’s Cup 2026 boasts a reduced field of 11 participating nations, following the last-minute withdrawal of Pakistan. They were set to play in Pool B of the preliminary round alongside Qatar, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Oman.
Bahrain are in Pool A alongside Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Australia, and hosts India.
The Bahrainis are scheduled to get their repeat-championship bid underway against Chinese Taipei today at 12.30pm, Bahrain time.
They then take on New Zealand tomorrow at 9.30am and then get a one-day break on Monday before facing the host Indians on Tuesday at 6.30pm. An official rest day will then be held on Wednesday, after which the Bahrainis take on their Kazakh counterparts on Thursday at 3.30pm.
They then complete their preliminary round schedule the following evening against Australia at 6.30pm. All times are Bahrain.
After the single round-robin, the top two teams from each pool march through to the semi-finals, which are scheduled for Saturday next week. The gold and bronze medal contests will then take place the following day.
Classification matches will also be held on both days to determine fifth through 10th on the final standings.
The AVC Men’s Cup 2026 marks its seventh edition and it will be the second time it is being held in its current format.
Bahrain won last year’s title after overcoming Pakistan in four sets in the gold medal game. Qatar, who were winners from 2024, secured the bronze medals after defeating South Korea in three sets.
The nationals wrapped up their final preparations yesterday under the supervision of Joksimovic ahead of their opening contest today.
Joksimovic helped steer the Bahrainis to the gold medals at the fourth GCC Games in Doha, Qatar just last month, and will be looking to add a continental crown to his achievements in only his second tournament in charge of the senior men’s squad.
Bahrain’s AVC title triumph in 2025 made them the fifth team to claim the tournament championship, joining Iraq in 2018, Kyrgyzstan in 2022, Thailand in 2023, and Qatar in 2024. The event’s 2020 edition was not held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aside from those gold medals, the nationals had also secured silver in 2023, when the competition was still known as the AVC Men’s Challenge Cup.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))