VOLLEYBALL – DEFENDING champions Bahrain bowed to inspired hosts India 0-3 (21-25, 16-25, 22-25) last night in the AVC Men’s Cup 2026 in Ahmedabad.
The kingdom’s senior men’s volleyball national team tried valiantly to put up a strong challenge against the home side, who were boosted by a packed crowd at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex. But the Indians were too good on the night and they handed the Bahrainis their first loss after back-to-back wins in preliminary round Pool A.
The contest was played in just an hour and 25 minutes, and, despite their setback, the Bahrainis stayed on track to secure their place in the tournament’s semi-finals.
Following an official rest day today in the 11-nation Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) tournament, Bahrain return to action tomorrow when they lock horns with their counterparts from Kazakhstan at 3.30pm. They then complete their Pool A schedule on Friday evening against Australia at 6.30pm. Both times are Bahrain.
The nationals are hoping to be amongst the top two teams in their division at the end of this single round-robin stage in order to march through to the semi-finals, which are scheduled for Saturday.
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 places overall on the final standings.
Pool B in the preliminaries features Qatar, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Oman.
In other matches yesterday, New Zealand edged past Australia 3-2 (16-25, 25-23, 27-25, 19-25, 17-15) and Kazakhstan beat Chinese Taipei 3-1 (20-25, 26-24, 25-16, 25-23), both in Pool A; while Indonesia eked out Thailand 3-2 (19-25, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12) in Pool B.
Both Bahrain and India headed into last night’s clash with unbeaten records in this phase, but the Bahrainis found themselves on the back foot and were in danger of suffering their first loss after conceding the first two sets.
The nationals raised their level in the third and were in control early on, but the Indians stayed within striking distance throughout. The two teams were then deadlocked at 19-apiece and traded jabs over the next few rallies.
An error from Bahrain gave India a 23-22 edge, and they never recovered, as successive blocks on Mahmood Abdulhussain and Ali Ebrahim sealed India’s victory.
Abdulhussain was the Bahrainis’ leading scorer in their loss with 15 points – all in attack. Fellow-outside hitter Mahmoud Abdulwahed added nine, while middle blocker Hasan Alwarqaa and opposite Ali Ebrahim chipped in with six points apiece.
For India, outside hitter Chirag Chirag was their top man with 15 points, while skipper and opposite spiker Jerome Vinith Charles scored 10.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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