BAHRAIN’s beach soccer and volleyball teams took victories in their opening matches in the first Asian Beach Games being held in Bali, Indonesia.

The beach soccer team, under the helm of Brazilian coach Gustavo Silva, trounced Vietnam 3-0 in Group ‘C’ match and stayed on course for a berth in the quarter-finals.

In a three-period match of 36 minutes, the Bahrainis had a cautious start but they eventually found the target twice in the second period then secured victory by scoring the third goal in the third period.

The Bahraini team were spearheaded by Ibrahim Hassan, Amir Shebib, Ali Habib, Ibrahim Abdulla, Sadeq Marhoon, Hussam Al Mannai, Yaqoob, Salah Salman, Isa Saleh and Mahmood Al Ghawi.

Bahrain’s second match in this four-team group is scheduled for tomorrow against Kuwait and another win for Silva’s side will seal their berth in the last eight. Group favourites South Korea are the fourth side whom Bahrain play on Tuesday.

A total of 16 teams from across the continent are taking part in the beach soccer competition. The teams were divided into four groups of four teams each.

The sides are battling it out in the first round which features round robin matches and the top two teams from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals knock-out stage.

Bahrain’s beach volleyball team of Ayman Haroona and Hassan Aqeel followed suit, winning their inaugural match in Group ‘J’ against Thailand’s Sangkhachot and Pollueang 21-14, 21-15.

Coached by former national team player Ali Jaffer, the Bahrainis lived up to expectations and took this match in straight sets as they started their title bid on a high note.

Mohammed Al Fardan is leading the beach volleyball team delegation which was due to take part in this tournament with two teams. However, they were reduced to one after Ibrahim suffered an injury just before making the trip to Bali.

His team partner, Qader Abdulla, was therefore unable to travel with the delegation.

Sailing

This championship is having an impressive number of 37 teams taking part. The teams were drawn into 10 groups.

Bahrain will also be taking part in the three-day sailing which gets underway on Tuesday with the laser 4.7 races.

The Bahrain sailing delegation is being headed by Sameer Shuwaiterand includes coach Qassim bin Jamia besides two sailors – Omar Abdulaziz and Ahmed Salman.

Bahrain are keen to make a strong impact during this nine-day event which will see a total of 3,876 athletes, representing 45 Asian countries, in the fray.

The Asian Beach Games is the first of its kind in the region and will mark the largest of its kind in the world.

The multi-sport event is being held every two years and celebrates cooperation and unity despite athletes from nations of different back grounds and cultures.

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