VOLLEYBALL – Bahrain's Al Ahli Club have bolstered their roster for the upcoming third West Asian Clubs Volleyball Championship for Men, which is scheduled to begin in the kingdom on Friday.
The Bahraini outfit are one of seven teams competing in the regional event, which is being organised by the Bahrain Volleyball Association in co-operation with the West Asia Volleyball Association.
Ahli have signed talented and experienced professionals Marko Vukasinovic from Montenegro and Samuele Tuia from France for the tournament.
Vukasinovic is making a return to Bahrain after playing with Ahli last season, during which he also took to the court for the 2024 edition of the West Asian clubs tiff.
Tuia has also had experience in the kingdom in the past, and has played with multiple clubs across Europe and the Middle East.
Both players, who have already arrived on the island, provide a major boost for the hosts, who already have a number of Bahrain’s top internationals in their line-up. They include Ali Ebrahim, Mohammed Anan, Hani Allawi, Sayed Mohammed Al Abbar, Hasan Haider, Mahmood Abdulhussain, Hussain Sultan, Ayman Haroona, and Hussain Mansoor, to name a few.
Ahli are being guided by Bahrain’s senior men’s national team head coach Jorge Elgueta from Argentina, who is a former Olympian during his playing career.
Elgueta has been supervising Ahli’s intensive preparations for the tournament over the past several weeks.
Matches in the championship are to be played at Isa Bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
Ahli are one of seven clubs in the competition. The others are Al Arabi and Al Rayyan of Qatar, Northern Refineries from Iraq, Al Qadsia and Kuwait SC of Kuwait, and Al Salam of Oman.
The tournament is being held in league format over seven matchdays, with three games set to take place each day from 3pm onwards.
Ahli get their campaign underway on opening night against Salam. They then take on Rayyan the following evening and before playing Kuwait on Sunday next week.
Following a rest day for all teams, Ahli resume their title bid next Tuesday against Arabi and then lock horns with Northern Refineries the evening after. Another rest day will be held on Thursday next week and then Ahli play their concluding assignment the following night against Qadsia.
Should they be in title contention, Ahli will have to wait to learn of their championship fate on February 15 when the final evening of games is held, when the Bahrainis have a bye. The six other participating clubs will be in action that day.
Ahli are playing in the West Asian Clubs Volleyball Championship for Men for the second straight year. Its previous edition in 2024 was held in Sohar, Oman, where they narrowly missed out on the podium with a fourth-place finish.
In the inaugural event in 2023 in Amman, Jordan, Dar Kulaib were the Bahraini representatives, and they too came up one spot shy of the podium in finishing fourth.
Bahrain’s organisation of the competition this year came after the UAE withdrew as original hosts.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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