Poland set to defend it’s title

Manama : Poland are set to defend its title in a highly competitive field in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boys’ U19 World Championship today with Brazil taking on France in Pool B and Russia play Turkey in Pool C with both matches starting at 1pm at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa.

Head coach of Poland (who have a bye today) Maciej Zendel says that they face an uphill task in their quest to repeat the success of the 2015 championship hosted by Argentina.

“It will be very difficult for us to win this tournament,” Zendel said last night in the pre-tournament Press conference held at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Manama, where he was joined by a majority of the head coaches from the other participating nations.

Zendel identified Brazil, Italy and Iran as the teams to beat. But Iran head coach Reza Vakili Farjad suggested all teams have a chance of a medal.

The tournament has additional importance for Japan, whose current players may be the ones that will be flying their flag when Tokyo hosts the next Summer Olympics in three years’ time in Japan. 

Meanwhile, several coaches praised Bahrain for the warm welcome they have received upon their arrival and the exceptional overall organisation.

After the preliminaries, the top four teams in each pool move on to the next phase.

Bahrain squad: Yousif Khalifa Alasbool (Head Coach), Abdulla Al Mahroos (Team Manager), Omar Al Majed (Al Najma), Hussain Mansoor (Nabih Saleh), Sayed Mohamme Al Abbar (Al Ahli), Jawher Rashed (Al Najma), Saif Yousif (Captain, Muharraq), Mohammed Jassim (Nabih Saleh), Mohammed Haroona (Playmaker, Dar Kulaib), Hassan Haider (Muharraq), Hussain Thamer (Dar Kulaib), Hassan Mohammed (Muharraq), Mahmood Abdul Hussain (Al Ahli), Yousif Saif (Muharraq), Sayed Yousuf Ashoor (Muharraq), Hussain Abdulla (Libero, Dar Kulaib).

Preliminary round schedule:

1pm: Pool B: Brazil vs France. Pool C:Russia vs Turkey.

3pm: Pool B: Cuba vs Japan. Pool C: Chile vs South Korea.

5pm: Pool A: Puerto Rico vs Tunisia. Pool D: Italy vs Czech Republic.

7pm: Pool A: Bahrain vs Egypt. Pool D:Mexico vs China.