Al Rayyan SC celebrate their point win against Shabab Al Hussain
Bangkok, Thailand, March 13, 2023 – Formidable Al Rayyan SC moved atop Pool B unscathed following their dramatic 3-1 victory against hosts Jordan’s Shabab Al Hussain for three in a row, as unbeaten Kuwait Club stunned Oman Club with comeback win to lead Pool A on Day 4 of the 1st West Asia Men’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Sports Palace Hall in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on Sunday.
Oman Club players try to block a spike from Kuwait Club
In Pool A, Kuwait Club, which got their campaign in this inaugural tournament off to a winning start with narrow 3-2 win against Qatar’s Police SC on the opening day, proved that they remain one of the strongest teams to be reckoned with in this top-tier championship.
On Sunday, Kuwait Club performed well up to their level. Going down 27-29 in a hotly-contested first set to Oman Club, the Kuwaitis pulled their game together to comfortably clinch the next two sets 25-15, 25-21 and widen the margin to 2-1.
However, Oman Club mounted a strong challenge in the fourth set, aiming for winning this thrilling battle and making a comeback in the decider. Still, the Kuwaitis tightened their defence and roared back with exceptional attacks not only to win the set 25-22 but also end the rivals’ comeback attempt.
Kuwait Club
Following the impressive 3-1 win, Kuwait Club surged ahead Police SC to the top of Pool A with similar 6 points. However, as former four-time Qatar Volleyball League champions Police SC had already completed their three matches in the pool round-robin preliminaries since Saturday, the Kuwaiti side still have their last match to compete against Al Wehdat of Jordan on Monday, the final day of the preliminaries.
Al Rayyan attempts to attack Shabab Al Hussain
Meanwhile, Al Rayyan, fifth place at the last year’s Asian Men’s Club Championship in Iran, also lived up to all expectations after beating Shabab Al Hussain in a hard-fought four-set thriller 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 36-34 in Pool B.
The well-deserved win over the host team stretched Al Rayyan’s winning streak to 3 in a row to stay atop Pool A with 8 points. Following their three wins including a close 3-2 match against Bahrain’s Dar Kulaib and 3-1 against Iraq’s South Gas, Al Rayyan remain the hot favorites to make a clean sweep in Pool B.
On Monday, the Qatari giants are due to play their last preliminary match against Palestine’s Al Nabi Elias, the team yet winning a single set against their respective rivals to stay on the bottom fifth of the standing.
The other Pool B encounter on Sunday saw Dar Kulaib, which had collected 4 points from one win against one loss, remain hot on the Al Rayyan’s heels with just one point behind as the Bahraini club outplayed South Gas of Iraq in comfortable straight sets 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 to improve their win-loss record to 2-1 with 7 points.
As South Gas had already completed their first-round matches with 6 points from 2 wins against 2 losses, Dar Kulaib will next take on Jordan’s Shabab Al Hussain in their last Pool B match on Monday.
SUNDAY’S RESULTS
MATCH SCHEDULE
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