TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain's senior men's volleyball team will leave for Amman, Jordan, tomorrow to defend their title at the 24th Arab Men's Volleyball Championship.

The regional competition is scheduled to run from October 4 to 14 at the Sports Palace in Al-Hussein Youth City.

Bahrain head into the tournament as defending champions, having lifted the trophy on home soil in November 2024 after defeating Qatar in four sets in the final.

That triumph, achieved under former head coach Jorge Elgueta, was the kingdom's third Arab title following previous successes in 1992 and 2008.

The Bahrainis will this time be led by Montenegro head coach Ivan Joksimovic, who took charge in April after guiding Dar Kulaib to an unbeaten domestic league title.

Joksimovic enjoyed an impressive start to his tenure, steering Bahrain to GCC Games gold in Doha in May without dropping a set before leading them to fourth place at the AVC Men's Cup in India.

Their most recent outing came at last month's AVC Men's Continental Championship in Japan, where they exited the pool stage.

Among those who featured for Bahrain in that tournament were setters Ali Ebrahim and Mahmood Alafyah; outside hitters Sayed Hashem Ali, Mahmood Abdulwahed, Mahmood Salman and Ahmed Mohamed Saleh; middle blockers Mohamed Abdulla, Ali Yusuf and Hasan Haider; opposite hitters Ali Khamis and Abdulla Ebrahim; and liberos Ayman Haroon and Abbas Sultan.

Nine teams had initially been listed for the Arab championship, with hosts Jordan joined by Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Palestine and Tunisia.

The final line-up could be reduced, however, with reports indicating that Egypt and Tunisia have withdrawn from the competition.