Bahrain aim to qualify for second round of U21 Worlds, says head coach

Bahrain’s junior national volleyball team head coach Yousuf Khalifa hopes to qualify for the second round of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s U21 World Championship 2019. Coach Khalifa said that this is one of his team’s main targets in the upcoming global showcase, which the Kingdom of Bahrain is set to host from July 18 to 27 at Shaikh Isa Sports City in Riffa.

The veteran Bahraini tactician said that advancing past opening phase will be difficult task, considering tough competition in Pool A where they will be facing likes of international powerhouses. The Chinese and Moroccans are among the leading under-21 teams in the world, with China being seventh and Morocco 11th on the Top 30 Rankings of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) as of January of this year.

Puerto Rico, on the other hand, are the reigning holders of the Pan-American Cup, which took place in May. But while Bahrain are considered underdogs against such hard-hitting opposition, Khalifa says that stealing a victory is not impossible. His team has been training the past few months for this event and the players have some experience at the global level.

They had also performed admirably at the recent Asian Volleyball Confederation Western Zone Qualification Tournament for the Asian Men’s U23 Volleyball Championship, where they secured first place.