Bahrain finished seventh in the 16-nation, 15th Asian Men’s U18 Volleyball Championship held at Isa Sports City in Riffa, improving on their ninth-place finish in their only other appearance in the competition in 2014.

The first-time hosts defeated Chinese Taipei – who won the inaugural tournament in 1997 and have participated in every championship since – 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 31-29, 25-18) in the seventh-place play-off.

Ali Sultan and Jassim Madan combined to score 52 points for the hosts and set up a hard-fought victory. Ali was the top-scorer in the game with 28 points while Jassim wasn’t far behind with 24.

The spirit that Bahrain showed against Chinese Taipei had been on display from the start of the tournament but results in their first two preliminary round matches didn’t go their way.

In their opening Group A game against Hong Kong, China, Bahrain battled back after losing the first set (25-23) to take a 2-1 lead after winning the next two sets (25-18, 25-19).

However, Hong Kong drew level after winning the fourth set (35-33) and claimed a 3-2 victory after taking the fifth (15-12).

Bahrain suffered heartbreak again in their second Group A game against Thailand when, after Thailand won the first set (25-22), the hosts stormed back to take a 2-1 lead after winning the next two sets (27-25, 25-21) only for Thailand to seal a 3-2 victory by taking the last two sets (25-17, 15-10).

Needing to win their final Group A game against a tough Australia team to have any chance of progressing to the next round, the young Bahrainis delivered when it mattered most.

Australia took the first set (25-17) with Bahrain clinching the second (36-34). The Aussies then won the third (25-16) to edge 2-1 in front.

But that was all they could manage as Bahrain took the fourth set (25-20) before winning a heart-stopping tie-break (16-14) to seal a 3-2 victory – their first of the tournament.

It proved to be enough for the hosts to finish as runners-up in the group and be promoted to the next round.

However, in their first match in the main round, Bahrain came up against China (who had topped Group C and would on to win their maiden title by defeating Iran in the final).

And the Chinese were in a dominant mood as they swept to an imperious 3-0 (25-8, 25-22, 25-20) win.

Bahrain were up against an even more formidable opponent in seven-time champions (and eventual runners-up in the tournament) Iran in their next game.

And the hosts battled bravely but Iran always looked in control before wrapping up a comfortable 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-14) victory.

Bahrain still had a chance to finish in the top six but they would need to beat South Korea in their next game to ensure that.

But South Korea, the 1999 champions, had other plans as they came out with definite intent and didn’t allow the Bahrainis to settle as they waltzed to an easy 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-21) victory.

Bahrain were now guaranteed a top-eight finish. But they were determined to prove, in their final game of the tournament against Chinese Taipei, that their performance in the preliminary round and their triumph over Australia was not a flash in the pan.

And the young Bahrainis demonstrated the same fighting spirit against Chinese Taipei that they had shown at the start of the tournament to complete a very good win against a champion side.

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