VOLLEYBALL – HOSTS Bahrain made a rousing start to their title bid last night in the second Arab Youth Volleyball Championship, which got underway in the kingdom.
The kingdom’s youth men’s national team outclassed their counterparts from Jordan 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-9) in their opening fixture of the single round-robin tournament, being played at Isa bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
In attendance during yesterday’s game was Bahrain Olympic Committee vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa along with Bahrain Volleyball Association officials.
The Bahrainis were in control for virtually the entire match and did well to go for the kill. They strung together an incredible 12 unanswered points in the third set to turn a 2-5 deficit to a commanding 14-5 lead, and then rode their momentum to the finish.
Playing big roles for the home team were skipper Nasralla Haram, fellow-outside hitters Mohamed Haram and Sayed Hasan Alabbar, opposite spiker Mohammed Kadhem, middle blockers Ammar Ebrahim and Ali Abdulla, and setter Ahmed Hussain.
Bahrain, coached by veteran tactician Yusuf Khalifa, will be looking to build on their winning start when they return to the playing court tonight against Algeria. The game is scheduled for a 7pm start, and it will be the last of three fixtures today.
Egypt take on Jordan in the first match at 3pm, to be followed by defending champions Saudi Arabia locking horns with Kuwait at 5pm.
All are welcome to attend the tournament and cheer on the participating youth men’s national squads.
The Egyptians claimed a resounding 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-16) win against their Kuwaiti opponents in the other clash on opening day.
Following their game tonight against Algeria, the Bahrainis next face off with Kuwait on Wednesday. They then play their penultimate assignment against Saudi on Friday, and then complete their tournament schedule against Egypt on Sunday next week as part of the programme on the championship’s concluding night.
All of Bahrain’s games are slated for 7pm starts.
In their win last night, Bahrain trailed 3-6 in the first set but a big block by Ebrahim sparked their comeback. They shrugged off their early jitters and edged ahead 8-7 following a double block by Ebrahim and Husain. Later, spikes from Kadhem and Nasralla Haram stretched their lead to 19-10, and the Bahrainis never looked back en route to securing the match advantage.
In the second set, Bahrain powered ahead 8-2 and were up the entire frame. The Jordanians tried to stay within striking distance and got back to within 16-20, but Kadhem replied and later Mohamed Haram scored for a 23-17 lead, while back-to-back errors from their opponents gave them their two-set cushion.
Bahrain then closed the contest in style, roaring back with their stunning 12-0 rally to take a 14-5 lead in the third. That sent them on their way to the finish as the Jordanians never recovered, and Alabbar supplied the winning point with a clever, two-handed tap at the net.
The Bahrainis’ other players in the tournament are Ebrahim Alhamar, Abdulla Aljaboori, Karrar Yaqoob, Hadi Hussain, Mustafa Ebrahim, Hussain Albalooshi, Hadi Ahmed, and Abbas Mohamed.
The nationals were silver-medallists in the inaugural edition of Arab championship in 2024, and will be looking to go one better this year on their home court.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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