Bahrain ease past Jordan

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain cruised past Jordan 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-11) yesterday in their final Group A game in the first West Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, being held at Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Sports Hall in Qatif, Saudi Arabia.

The junior nationals were in a class of their own in the contest and never allowed their rivals to get into their groove. The Bahrainis were dominant from the opening serve and powered to a comfortable victory to wrap up their campaign in the competition’s preliminary round.

Bahrain finished this stage with 10 points as the top-ranked team on the Group A table from three wins and one defeat in four outings. There are 10 nations in all vying for the gold medals in the competition.

 Aside from Bahrain and Jordan in their division, Iraq, Lebanon and the UAE are also in the fray. Group B features hosts Saudi, Qatar, Syria, Kuwait and Palestine. The nationals won their games against the Iraqis and Lebanese, but then lost to the Emiratis in five sets. They were able to bounce back from that setback with their win against the Jordanians yesterday.

The final group rankings will be determined following the completion of the last fixtures ahead of the round of eight, which is scheduled to be held tomorrow. The top four teams from both groups advance to the cross quarter-finals, with Bahrain as Group A winners taking on the Group B fourth-placers, and so on.

The teams finishing fifth in each group will fight it out for ninth overall. The semi-finals and classification round for fifth to eighth-places will follow on Friday. All participating teams will have one-day rest on Saturday, while the last classification matches, as well as the bronze medal game and the gold medal showdown, will take place on Sunday.

 Bahrain had contributions yesterday from their entire squad, which includes Hussain Ali, Redha Matrook, Ali Al Bosta, Hassan Al Warqa, Sayed Hashem Issa, Ali Hussain, Ali Habib, Sadeq Marhoon, Sayed Ahmed Murtadha, Hussain Abdulredha, Hassan Aliwi and Abbas Ihsan.

The junior Bahrainis are coached by Tunisian tactician Saber Abdulwahed. Bahrain are using this West Asian tournament to prepare for the 21st Asian Men’s U20 Volleyball Championship, which will be held in the Kingdom next month.