VOLLEYBALL – BAHRAIN’S Al Ahli kept their slim title ambitions alive but Qatar’s Al Rayyan moved a win away from securing the coveted crown in the third West Asian Clubs Volleyball Championship for Men, currently being hosted by the kingdom.
Ahli and Rayyan both claimed big victories last night at Isa Bin Rashid Volleyball Arena at Isa Sports City in Riffa.
Ahli registered a 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 13-25, 25-15) triumph over Al Qadsia of Kuwait, while Rayyan cruised against Northern Refineries of Iraq 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-20) to go on the brink of being crowned West Asian champions for the third straight edition in the competition.
Both sides have just one game remaining. Today is a rest day and the last two days of action are scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday at the same venue.
Ahli have a bye tomorrow and will play their final assignment on Saturday – the tournament’s concluding day. Rayyan will be taking to the court tomorrow and will have a chance to seal the title as they are still undefeated in the competition.
The championship is being organised by the Bahrain Volleyball Association (BVA) in co-operation with the West Asia Volleyball Association.
In attendance during yesterday’s matches were BVA president and Arab Volleyball Association chief Major General Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and other high-ranking volleyball officials from the countries of the participating teams.
In Ahli’s hard-earned win, they relied heavily once again on the impressive showing and teamwork of starters Mohammed Anan, Sayed Mohammed Al Abbar, Hasan Haider, Hussain Sultan, Hussain Mansoor, and professional Marko Vukasinovic from Montenegro.
They convincingly took the first set and then fought back from an early deficit in the second to power ahead to the 2-0 advantage. The Bahrainis then fell into a hole in the beginning of the third and could not recover, trailing by double digits 11-21 as Qadsia extended the match into a fourth frame.
But there, the Bahrainis regained their composure and back-to-back spikes from Vukasinovic and Hani Allawi broke a 4-all deadlock. Ahli then went on a game-changing rally, surging ahead 16-8 with an Al Abbar attack, and they rode their momentum to the end. Ahli closed in on the victory with Al Abbar making it 23-12, and later Mansoor brilliantly set up Haider for the match-clinching smash.
Ahli secured their third win in four matches and rose to second place on the tournament standings, behind only Rayyan. Qadsia suffered their fourth straight loss and remained winless with only one match remaining.
Ahli wrap up their campaign on Saturday when they face off with Al Arabi of Qatar in the last game of the competition. It will be played at 7pm.
In yesterday’s other fixture, Rayyan were spearheaded by their formidable core of Marcus Vinusis, Papemaguette Diangne, Olivier Venno, Andre Luiz France, and Milos Stevanovic, among others.
Vinusis finished as their top scorer with 15 points, 11 of which came on attack and three on blocks. Rayyan maintained their unbeaten record in four matches and will be looking to complete their sweep of the tournament tomorrow – and clinch the crown – when they take on Al Salam of Oman at 7pm.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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