Police Union of Qatar claimed bronze medal
Bangkok, Thailand, March 18, 2023 – Devastating Al Rayyan SC of Qatar recorded seven straight wins including a surprise 3-0 triumph against Kuwait Club in the Friday’s final showdown to underline their supremacy over the 1st West Asia Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Sports Palace Hall in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The truly incredible performances at the March 9-17 championship handed Al Rayyan the first historic West Asia Men’s Club Championship title with an unbeaten record.
En route to the unprecedented title, Al Rayyan, which picked up silver medals at the 2013 and 2014 Asian Men’s Club Championships and finished a well-earned fifth place at the last year’s edition in Iran, kicked off their campaign in this inaugural competition with a dramatic 3-2 win against Dar Kulaib from Bahrain in Pool B.
The Qatari side went on their fine form in the pool round-robin preliminaries following their 3-1 victory against Iraq’s South Gas, 3-1 against hosts Jordan’s Shabab Al Hussain before ending their first-round encounters with a 3-0 demolition of Palestine’s Al Nabi Elias to top the Pool.
Al Rayyan made their mark in the last three matches, brushing off Al Wehdat Club of hosts Jordan 3-0 in the cross quarterfinals, outplaying Police Union 3-0 in the all-Qataris semifinal clash and defeating Kuwait Club 3-0 in the Friday’s showdown.
Kuwait Club were also in astonishing form not to go down to their respective rivals en route to the final clash of the two unbeaten teams against Al Rayyan on Friday.
Kuwait Club were formidable with the likes of Chinese national player Liu Libin and Iranian powerful hitter Saber Kazemi, who won the MVP awards at the 2021 Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Japan and the Asian Men’s Club Championship in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand with Iran’s Foolad Sirjan team in the same year.
However, Al Rayyan, which had claimed significant successes to their name including silver medal at the 2014 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship, gold medals at the 2018 Arab Clubs Championship and 2011, 2015, 2016 Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Club Championship, proved themselves well they were the strongest team in this championship.
Al Rayyan got off to a brilliant start to clinch the first set 25-21. Kuwait Club tried hard to claw their way back into game in the second set, but the Qataris foiled the rivals’ determined attempts to take the hard-fought set 25-22. Al Rayyan went on their blistering form to win the third set 25-20, match and the championship.
Earlier, Qatar’s Police Union took home the bronze medal after beating Dar Kulaib of Bahrain with impressive 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 17-25, 25-17, 18-16) in the third-place playoff match.
The 5th position went to Iraq’s South Gas following their straight-set 25-21, 25-21, 25-14 win against Jordan’s Shabab Al Hussain, while Oman Club finished 7th place in this championship after ousting Jordan’s Al Wehdat Club in three-setter 25-18, 25-17, 25-21.
Mr Ali bin Ghanem Al Kuwari, President of West Asia and Qatar Volleyball Associations, presided over the award presentation and closing ceremony. He presented the prestigious Champions’ Trophy to the eventual winners Al Rayyan SC.
Also joining him in the ceremony were WAVA Vice Presidents Brigadier General Jehad Qutaishat, himself Vice President of Jordan Volleyball Federation, and Eng Ibrahim Al-Muqbali, WAVA Secretary General Mohammad Salem Al-Kuwari and Presidents from WAVA Federations.
FRIDAY’S FINAL RESULTS
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Best Setter: Milos Stevanovic (Al Rayyan SC)
Best Opposite: Oliver Venno (Al Rayyan SC)
Best Outside: Lui Libin (Kuwait Club)
Best Outside: Yousuf Oughlaf (Police Union)
Best Blocker: Abdulaziz Najm (Kuwait Club)
Best Blocker: John Chigbo (Police Union)
Best Libero: Abass Hassan (Dar Kulaib)
MVP: Marcous Vinicius (Al Rayyan SC)
FINAL TEAM RANKINGS
TOP THREE
GOLD MEDAL
SILVER MEDAL
BRONZE MEDAL
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