VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain have named a full-strength, 21-player senior men’s national team that is gearing up to compete in the 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Men.
The tournament is set to be hosted by the kingdom from June 2 to 9, with 12 of the continent’s leading national teams taking part.
The Bahrainis are coached by former Argentina international and Olympian Jorge Elgueta. The nationals began their local training programme last week and will be stepping up their daily sessions as the countdown continues to the prestigious Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) event.
“Everything has been going well so far with our practices and I am very happy with the level of the team,” Elgueta told the GDN last night.
“The players train sometimes three times a day and are in good shape. Unfortunately, we have had some difficulty scheduling friendly games with some quality opponents because of their commitments, but we will do everything we can to be best prepared for this tournament.”
Bahrain’s squad features top names from reigning Isa bin Rashid Bahrain Volleyball League Champions Dar Kulaib, Crown Prince’s Cup winners Al Ahli, Muharraq, Al Nasser, Nabih Saleh and Al Shabab.
The players’ list includes star outside hitters Mohammed Yaqoob, Nasser Anan and Mahmoud Abdulwahed; opposites Ali Ebrahim and Sayed Hashem Issa; setter Mahmood Al Afyah; middle blockers Mohammed Jassim, Ayman Isa and Hassan Al Warqaa; and libero Ayman Harwana.
The rest of the team consists of setters Hussain Mansoor and Mohammed Hadi; outside hitters Sayed Al Abrar and Sayed Ahmed Murtadah; opposites Ebrahim Mohammed and Mohammed Anan; middle blockers Hassan Al Shakhouri, Mohammed Omar, and Hani Ali Alawi; and liberos Abbas Abdulla Abbas and Mohammed Ahmed.
“I know our players very well and we are working hard together each day,” said Elgueta, who represented his home country in both the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and in 2004 in Athens. “We are looking forward to this competition in Bahrain against some very strong teams.”
Elgueta helped guide Ahli to their Crown Prince’s Cup triumph last month. He will be trimming down Bahrain’s roster to 14 for their final entry to this year’s AVC Challenge Cup for Men.
The Bahrainis are in Pool A for the preliminary round together with the Philippines and world number 31 China. Pool B consists of defending champions Thailand, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, while Pool C features world number 28 South Korea, Indonesia and world number 21 Qatar. Pool D comprises Vietnam, Australia and Chinese Taipei.
The winners of the tournament will claim a berth in this year’s FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup, due to take place in July.
The Bahrainis will be hoping to defend home court and improve on their silver-medal finish from last year’s tournament, held in Chinese Taipei. There, they lost to Thailand in the gold medal contest but at the same time made national sporting history after qualifying for their first-ever title-decider at the senior men’s level in any AVC tournament.
The 2024 AVC Challenge Cup for Men is the first of two top volleyball events set to be hosted by the kingdom this year. Bahrain will also be staging the 15th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship from July 28 to August 4, which is set to feature 16 youth national squads.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))