VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s volleyball national team play their counterparts from South Korea today in a third and final international friendly match as part of their overseas training camp in Seoul.
The tune-ups are part of both sides’ preparations for the AVC Volleyball Men’s Continental Championship 2026, to be held in Fukuoka, Japan from this Friday to September 13.
The games are also taking place in celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Bahrain and South Korea.
Today’s contest is scheduled for a 9am start, Bahrain time.
The nationals lost their two previous meetings last week, both in four sets, but will be looking to bounce back and turn the tables today.
The Bahrainis, coached by Ivan Joksimovic from Montenegro, are going up against a South Korean team that is being guided by Bahrain’s former senior men’s head coach Issanaye Ramires from Brazil.
They have a 13-player squad that travelled to East Asia for both their camp and for the Asian championship.
The national team’s roster includes middle blockers Mohammed Abdulla, Hassan Haider, and Ali Yusuf; opposite spikers Ali Ebrahim and Abdulla Mohammed Jaafar; outside hitters Sayed Hashem Issa, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Mahmoud Abdulwahed, and Ahmed Mohammed Saleh; setters Mahmood Alafyah and Ali Habib; and liberos Ayman Harwana and Abbas Sultan.
Today’s match concludes their camp in the South Korean capital. They are then scheduled to travel to Japan tomorrow ahead of this year’s AVC Volleyball Men’s Continental Championship.
Bahrain and South Korea are part of a 12-nation field that will be competing in Fukuoka. The Bahrainis are in Pool A for the preliminary round alongside defending champions and hosts Japan, Australia, and Oman.
Pool B features Iran, China, India, and New Zealand; while Pool C is composed of the South Koreans, Qatar, Chinese Taipei, and Thailand.
Following the opening single round-robin, to be held until September 9, the top two teams from each pool will march through to the quarter-finals, where they will be joined by the two best third-placed squads. The elite eight is then slated for September 10 and 11.
That will set the stage for the semi-finals on September 12, after which the gold and bronze medal contests will bring the curtains down on the championship on September 13.
The title winners in Fukuoka will earn a direct quota place for the men’s volleyball tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, while the top three finishers will secure berths in the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Cup 2027.
&uuid=(email))