VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain went down fighting against India 1-3 (16-25, 25-16, 25-27, 19-25) yesterday in their opening game of the AVC Boys’ U18 Volleyball Championship 2026, which got underway in Haikou, China.
The kingdom’s youth men’s national team battled hard in their preliminary Pool B fixture but after splitting the first two sets, narrowly lost the third and were unable to extend the contest to the tie-breaker.
Outside hitter Mohamed Haram and skipper Nasralla Haram finished as the Bahrainis’ top two scorers.
They contributed 20 and 17 points, respectively, and tried valiantly to keep their team in the fight, with both scoring seven points apiece in the crucial set three.
Opposite spiker Mohammed Kadhem chipped in with 10 markers for the nationals.
Pacing the Indians were outside hitters Sourabh Kashma and Deepak Deepak, who scored 19 points apiece, while opposite Kalidindi Rama Charan had 12 in their win.
The Bahrainis will now be looking to bounce back today when they play their second Pool B fixture against the Philippines at 8am, Bahrain time.
They then complete their schedule in the preliminaries tomorrow against Iran at 5am, also Bahrain time.
At the end of the single round-robin, the top two teams from each of the four pools move on from this stage to the quarter-finals, which are scheduled for Thursday later this week.
The last four are then slated for the next day, which will set the stage for the gold and bronze medal games on Saturday.
The concluding classification affairs will also take place on the championships’ last day.
In yesterday’s other Pool B clash, the Iranians were 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-13) winners against the Filipinos.
Meanwhile, in Pool A, Chinese Taipei edged past Hong Kong 3-2 (25-16, 23-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-9) and defending champions China beat Indonesia 3-1 (25-23, 26-24, 21-25, 25-20); in Pool C, Thailand ousted Kazakhstan 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-16) and Pakistan outclassed Kyrgyzstan 3-0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-17); and in Pool D, South Korea defeated Australia 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-17) and Japan cruised past Saudi Arabia 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-11).
Bahrain are coached in the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) competition by veteran tactician Yusuf Khalifa.
It is their third appearance in the under-18 event, which is in its 16th edition.
The tournament also serves as a qualifier for the 2027 FIVB Boys’ U19 World Championship, with the top four finishers earning their right to represent the continent on volleyball’s biggest youth stage.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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