Bahrain Beat Kuwait for Third Straight Win

TDT | Manama

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Bahrain’s U17 volleyball team made it three wins from three without dropping a set after beating Kuwait 3–0 on Wednesday in the second Arab Men’s U17 Volleyball Championship in Bahrain.

The hosts won 25–14, 35–33, 25–10 at the Isa bin Rashid Volleyball Hall in Riffa, taking their tally to nine sets won and none lost across their opening three matches.

Bahrain took charge early and closed out the first set 25–14, but Kuwait hit back with a far stronger challenge in the second. The set stretched deep beyond 25 points before Bahrain held their nerve to take it 35–33.

Kuwait’s resistance then faded. Bahrain regained full control in the third and raced to a 25–10 win to seal another straight-sets victory.

Bahrain player Sayed Hassan Al Abbar said the team had imposed itself early before suffering a dip in the second set.

‘Thank God for the win, and hard luck to Kuwait,’ he said after the match. ‘We put them under pressure in the first set and won it by a good margin. We had a drop in the second, but thankfully we came back at the end.

‘In the third set we put pressure on them from the start and won it comfortably. We thank all the players and the staff. We are one team.’

Al Abbar also called on Bahrain supporters to turn out for the side’s remaining matches, saying: ‘We hope to see them there.’

Team manager Abdullah Al Mahroos said Bahrain had expected a difficult contest and praised the players for keeping calm when Kuwait threatened to level the match.

‘It was a difficult match, like every match, and we expected this kind of scenario,’ he said. ‘We won the first set by a good margin, but we started the second shakily and they put us under pressure from the first ball.

‘We managed to get back into the set and kept our composure. We kept telling the players to stay focused, and thankfully we were able to finish the match.’

Al Mahroos said the third set showed what Bahrain could do once their focus returned, but warned that lapses could prove costly later in the championship.

‘If we want to compete and become champions, we have to keep our concentration and cannot allow ourselves to go cold at any point in a match,’ he said.

He added that all 14 players in the squad had been prepared to step in when needed, describing Bahrain as ‘one team’ rather than a side dependent on a small group of starters.

The result follows Bahrain’s 3–0 wins over Jordan and Algeria earlier in the championship and keeps Yousuf Khalifa’s side among the leading teams in the six-nation competition.

Bahrain opened their campaign by beating Jordan 25–14, 25–18, 25–9 before seeing off Algeria 25–13, 25–14, 25–19.

Kuwait, meanwhile, came into Wednesday’s match after losing 3–0 to Egypt and then falling 3–2 to Saudi Arabia.

The championship brings together Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan and Algeria in a single round-robin phase, with the leading sides moving on to the semi-finals.

Bahrain are due to face Saudi Arabia on Friday before meeting Egypt on Sunday in their final two matches of the opening phase.