Bahrain Juniors Grab Silver, Individual Awards at Arab Volleyball Championship

TDT | Manama

Email : hussainm@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s junior men’s volleyball team capped a memorable campaign at the 17th Arab Junior Volleyball Championship in Amman with a silver medal and three individual awards.

The young nationals fell just short against Egypt in Monday’s final at Sports Palace Hall, losing 3–2 after staging a spirited comeback from two sets down. The Egyptians ultimately held their nerve in the tie-break to secure gold, while Bahrain settled for second place.

Despite the narrow defeat, three Bahraini players were recognised among the tournament’s best. Jassim Madan was named Best Outside Hitter, Ali Talaq took one of the two Best Opposite Spiker awards, and Ali Sultan claimed the Best Libero prize. They were among eight players honoured for their performances, with champions Egypt supplying four awardees – including captain Omar Eissa as Best Scorer – and Libya’s Muezbillah Saleh Balnnour completing the list.

The final rankings saw Libya, Lebanon, hosts Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait and Iraq classified behind Egypt and Bahrain.

BVA vice-president Mohammed Al Thawadi and secretary general Feras Al Helwachi, who also serves as Arab Volleyball Association (AVA) secretary general, were in attendance for the final. The championship was organised by the AVA, chaired by BVA president Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, in cooperation with the Jordan Volleyball Federation.

The squad, coached by Argentina’s Santiago Faidutti, returned home yesterday to a hero’s welcome at Bahrain International Airport. They were greeted by officials from the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) and BVA, including BOC sports associations director Hesham Albeloshi, BVA vice-president Habib Mohammed, and board members Abduljaleel Fateel and Sadeq Al Zaimour.

The junior team is part of the Khalid bin Hamad Golden Generation initiative, launched under the directives of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and BOC president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.