Today (Saturday) will start the first edition of the West Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship, which is hosted by the Kingdom during the period from 19 to 26 July in the Issa Bin Rashid Hall in Riffa, with the participation of eight Arab teams, all of which seek to write down its names in the historic tournament record as the first heroine West of the continent.
Our national team begins its tournament’s career by facing the Lebanon national team at an upcoming Arab summit that will start at seven in the evening, amid the hopes and mass ambitions that the team continue its continental brilliance, after crowning it weeks ago the title of the Asian Nations Championship, which the Kingdom hosted with a brilliant success.
The official opening match of the championship is preceded by three confrontations in the first round of the group stage, as it meets at one o’clock in the afternoon, Jordan and the UAE, followed by the match between Kuwait and Oman, while the five o’clock in the afternoon will witness a strong confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The championship draw was held before its launch, and resulted in the distribution of the participating teams in two groups, as the first group included: Our team – Jordan – Lebanon – the Emirates, and the second group included: Qatar – Saudi Arabia – Kuwait – Amman.
The teams play the league system from one role within the two groups, before all of them move to the quarter -finals, as the leader of each group meets the fourth group, and the second each group with the third group. The winners qualify for the semi -finals, while the losers play outstanding matches on the fifth to eighth positions.
As for the semi -finals, it combines four qualifying teams that compete for the two qualification card, while the losers meet in the third and fourth places meeting.
Our team enters this tournament, armed with the high morale resulting from the last coronation of the Asian Nations Cup, in addition to the preference of the land and the public, as it is expected that the loyal fans will attend with the intensity of red and white to support the “team” in the opening of the journey in front of the Lebanon team.
Despite the historical and technical preference that is in the interest of our team, the task will not be easy.
The questions are still a list about the squad that the coach of the national team, Frenchman Arnoud Gusrend, will be adopted in the opening meeting. Will he keep the same names that achieved the achievement of the nations of Asia? Or does it resort to the recycling policy, especially with the crowding of the matches and the pressure of the upcoming roles?
The French coach has several winning papers in all centers, and he will have a balance between ensuring victory and a strong start, and managing the physical effort for players throughout the tournament days.
