VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain missed out on the bronze medals yesterday in the AVC Men’s Cup 2026, which came to a close in Ahmedabad, India.
The kingdom’s senior men’s volleyball national team lost to the host Indians 1-3 (23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 17-25) in the game for third place at Veer Savarkar Sports Complex.
The Bahrainis were thus ranked fourth overall from the 11 teams that took part in this year’s tournament, which the nationals entered as defending champions after winning last year’s crown.
India joined champions Indonesia and silver-medallists South Korea on the podium.
The Indonesians secured the title after beating the South Koreans 3-0 (34-32, 25-16, 25-23) in last night’s thrilling final.
It was the first championship for Indonesia in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) competition, and they joined Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Qatar, and Bahrain as winners.
In other games yesterday to complete the final rankings, Kazakhstan secured fifth place overall after beating Thailand 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 27-25) and Qatar took seventh after overcoming Chinese Taipei 3-1 (32-30, 22-25, 25-18, 25-15).
In Bahrain’s loss against India, outside hitters Mahmoud Abdulwahed and Sayed Hashem Issa were the Bahrainis’ leading scorers with 22 and 16 points, respectively.
Opposite spikers Ali Ebrahim and Abdulla Mohammed Jaafar chipped in with nine and six markers.
Opposite Jerome Vinith Charles paced India in their triumph with 24 points, while outside hitters Joel Benjamin and Chirag Chirag finished with 17 apiece.
Bahrain’s title triumph last year was an historic result as it was the first-ever championship for the senior men’s squad in any AVC event.
Their victory 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.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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