BAHRAIN claimed a resounding 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23) sweep of Iraq last night in their penultimate match of the AVC Western Zone Qualification Tournament for the Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship, being played at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa.
The result virtually assured the Bahrainis their first-ever berth in the prestigious continental competition, which is set to take place in Myanmar from August 3 to 11.
Only three nations from these qualifiers make it through to the Asian tiff.
Bahrain came away with their third win in four games. They had earlier beaten Kuwait and Palestine, but then lost their previous assignment to Saudi Arabia in a five-set thriller.
They managed to regroup and bounce back with the fine win last night. Following the contest, the players and coaching staff were congratulated by Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, BVA vice-president Jehad Khalfan, and other high-ranking BVA officials, who attended the match.
The tournament hosts play their final game today against Qatar as they look to sign off on a positive note. The match is scheduled for a 7pm start at the same venue.
The Bahrainis, coached by national tactician Yusuf Khalifa, were in control of yesterday’s contest from the very start.
They had key contributions from their entire squad, including skipper Mahmood Abdulhussain Mohammed, Hasan Al Haddad, Mohammed Jassim, Sayed Al Abbar, Jawher Fares, Saif Yusuf Saif, Mohammed Haroona, Hassan Haider, Jasim Matrook, Hussain Thamer, Sayed Jaffer and libero Husain Sultan.
Meanwhile, in other matches yesterday, Saudi outplayed Palestine 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-16) to claim their third win in four games, while Qatar defeated Kuwait 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19) to also make it three wins from four.
Saudi and Qatar are also in the fray to secure a qualifying berth, as is Iraq. Kuwait and Palestine are out of the running.
The qualifiers have been organised in cooperation between the Bahrain Volleyball Association and the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC).
Today is the final day of action. There are two other matches: at 2pm, Saudi face off with Kuwait, followed by Palestine taking on Iraq at 4.30pm.
A total of 16 teams will take part in the Asian U23 Championship. Eleven nations are already in the event, including hosts Myanmar, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Australia, Vietnam and New Zealand. Two-time defending champions Iran are not playing this year.
The competition doubles as World Championship qualifiers, where the top two teams qualify for the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U23 World Championship.
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