VOLLEYBALL – Preparations are well underway for Bahrain’s hosting of the 15th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship.
The tournament is scheduled from July 28 to August 4 and is being organised by the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) in co-operation with the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC).
Sixteen youth national teams are set to take part in the event, which is to be held in the kingdom for the first time. The field includes Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and hosts Bahrain.
Matches will be held across two halls at Isa Sports City in Riffa – Isa bin Rashid Arena will be the main venue while the Bahrain Table Tennis Association arena will also stage games. The event is the second major continental tournament taking place in Bahrain this year. The kingdom previously successfully held the AVC Challenge Cup for Men 2024, which was won by Qatar.
Bahrain are gearing up for the event by participating in the ongoing Arab Youth Volleyball Championship, which is being held in Amman, Jordan until next week. According to a BVA official, this will be the same squad that will represent the kingdom in the upcoming AVC showcase.
National team head coach Fouad Abdulwahed has a 12-player squad of Ali Abdulla, Ali Talaq, Mohammed Al Haiki, Jassim Madan, Sayed Hassan Al Abbar, Ammar Youssef, Elias Sadeq, Ali Abdulameer, Hassan Sadeq, Ali Abbas, Mohammed Abdulnabi and Mohammed Qassim.
Bahrain will be taking part in the Asian under-18 event for only the second time. The nationals previously participated in the 2014 edition held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where they finished ninth overall from the 15 participating teams.
The last edition of the championship was held in Tehran, Iran in 2022. Japan defeated hosts Iran 3-0 in the final. India took the bronze beating South Korea 3-2. Iran have won the most Asian under-18 titles with seven, followed by Japan with three. South Korea, India, and Chinese Taipei have all claimed the crown once before. The 2020 edition of the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although Bahrain is hosting this championship for the first time, the kingdom had already staged the Asian under-20 championship three times – in 2014, 2018, and 2022.
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