Bahrain opened their competitive campaign at the men's volleyball
tournament with an entertaining victory in four sets (25-23, 25-22,
21-25, 25-20) over Lebanon in their first round Group B match in
the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall on Monday evening.
They now go into their second fixture against Mongolia on
Tuesday 28 November knowing that victory will take them through to
the next round as group leaders. Lebanon defeated the Mongolians on
Saturday 3-1 and will also hope for a Bahraini victory in order for
them to stay in the competition by finishing 2nd.
With the lead constantly changing in a tense opening, it was
Bahrain who held their nerve to see out the first set, and the game
initially had the hallmarks of going the distance. Lebanon had to
win if they were to guarantee their place in the next round,
following their four set victory over group rivals Mongolia on
Sunday.
The second set followed a similar pattern to the first as a late
surge of points saw Bahrain prevail and establish a 2-0 lead –
leaving the Lebanese with an uphill struggle to rescue something
from the match.
In a tight set once again, there were no more than three points
ever separating the two sides throughout, but although Lebanon
started brightly, Bahrain proved the stronger to take four of the
last five points when the set was delicately poised at 21-21.
Lebanon pulled themselves back into the match after a spirited
performance, largely inspired by 35 year-old skipper Marwan Hosri,
as they benefited from greater variation in their play to edge the
third set 25-21.
At times Lebanon went for a direct spike, at others they played
across court and, on occasions, they cleverly tipped the ball over
Bahrain's lofty blockers in order to gain the advantage. And as the
set came to its conclusion, Lebanon's Alain Saade was relieved to
take the all-important final point just after netting his serve at
24-21.
Bahrain finally clinched victory by taking the fourth set 25-20
and the match 3-1. Although the set was well fought, as indeed were
the previous three, the Bahrainis always looked the more likely
winners with their stronger physical presence at the net.
Jasmin Al Nabhan, No 13, was a key figure for Bahrain,
frequently spiking accurately and aggressively from the left, and
he ultimately capped a superb display by delivering the winning
serve.
For Bahrain, Sadeq Al Mohsen was their most prolific player,
earning his team 19 points. But it was a solid all round display,
with Fadel Mohamed, Ebrahim Nesaif and Al Nabhan weighing in with
17, 16 and 15 points respectively.
Meanwhile, Lebanon relied heavily on Elias Abi Chedid who
contributed 22 points, eight more than any of his teammates.
Bahrain's Al Nabhan was pleased to get through this encounter,
but expects more after the team has rested properly. "Today I think
we didn't play very good as we don't normally make a lot of
mistakes. We were very tired and couldn't concentrate inside the
court.
"We have just come from the Arabic Championships in Bahrain and
only had one rest day before flying here. We need to fix our
mistakes before our next match against Mongolia. We can win against
Mongolia and we hope to be 1st in the group, and then rest before
the next round."
(dohaasiangames.org November 28, 2006)
