VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain's senior men’s volleyball national team made a rousing start to their title defence yesterday in the AVC Men’s Cup 2026, which got underway in Ahmedabad, India.
The Bahrainis shrugged off a rough start to outclass from Chinese Taipei 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-20) in their preliminary round Pool A clash at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex.
The contest lasted an hour and 56 minutes and it was part of a packed programme on the tournament’s first day.
The Bahrainis are the reigning champions in the event, having won the previous edition hosted by the kingdom last year.
It was an historic triumph for Bahrain as it was the kingdom’s first-ever championship in any Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) competition.
Their triumph 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 field of 11 participating nations, reduced from 12 following the last-minute withdrawal of Pakistan.
They were set to play in Pool B for the preliminaries alongside Qatar, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Oman.
Bahrain and Chinese Taipei are joined in Pool A by New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Australia, and hosts India.
In their win yesterday, after narrowly conceding the opening set, the Bahrainis tried to battle back in the second but faced a 10-16 deficit midway through the frame.
But after falling behind 13-19, the nationals came alive following a timeout by head coach Ivan Joksimovic.
They then went on a game-changing 7-0 run, sparked by a block out on a Mahmoud Abdulwahed attack and then capped by back-to-back points from the veteran outside hitter – first an equaliser and then a powerful smash that gave the Bahrainis a slim lead.
Although Chinese Taipei briefly regained the advantage, outside hitter Mahmood Abdulhussain put the Bahrainis up 22-21, and that sent them on their way to tying the match, with Abdulhussain scoring the set’s last two points.
The nationals rode their momentum into the third period when they took a commanding 8-0 lead.
Their opponents tried to stay close but Bahrain remained in charge, and Abdulhussain later delivered the clincher to go up 2-1.
The Bahrainis fought hard to close things out in the fourth set, when another Abdulwahed effort put them up 10-7.
A block out against Abdulla Mohammed Jaafar later made it 20-16, and then the Bahrainis then wrapped it up with a fine stop by middle blocker Mohammed Abdulla on his Chinese Taipei counterpart Wang Ping Hsun.
Abdulwahed finished as Bahrain’s leading scorer with 21 points, 19 of which were in attack.
Abdulhussain chipped in with 13, while middle blocker Hasan Alwarqaa and opposite spiker Ali Ebrahim finished with nine apiece, with Alwarqaa posting five block points.
Wen Yi-Kai paced Chinese Taipei with 21 points, while Huang Jeng-Liang added 19 in the loss.
Bahrain are back in action today when they take on New Zealand at 9.30am.
They then get a one-day break tomorrow 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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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