Defending champions Al-Rayyan of Qatar will face hosts Kuwait Club in the first semifinal of the 4th West Asia Clubs Volleyball Championship on February 11 at the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Sports Complex Hall. The 3 p.m. match is followed by a 6 p.m. Bahraini derby between Dar Kulaib and Al-Ahli, after Kuwait Club defeated Oman’s Al-Seeb 3-1 and Al-Rayyan triumphed 3-0 over Al-Wakrah in the quarterfinals, Arab Times reported.
According to Arab Times, the quarterfinals produced decisive outcomes that shaped the semifinal lineup. Kuwait Club secured a 3-1 victory over Al-Seeb with set scores of 25-22, 26-24, 23-25 and 25-19. Al-Rayyan recorded a straight-sets 3-0 triumph in the Qatari derby against Al-Wakrah while Al-Ahli of Bahrain beat Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad 3-0 and Dar Kulaib defeated Iraq’s South Gas by the same scoreline. The results confirmed the four teams that will contest the penultimate round at the Kuwait-hosted event.
The event format required the top two teams from each of the three preliminary groups to progress to the quarterfinals together with the two best third-placed teams from across the groups, tournament officials stated. This system allowed for eight teams to compete in the knockout phase. It drew participants from Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Iraq for the championship hosted by Kuwait Club.
Al-Rayyan enter the semifinals as strong favorites having won the West Asian title in each of the competition’s first three editions, according to FIVB reports from prior tournaments. The Qatari side lifted the trophy for a third consecutive time in 2024 by defeating Kuwait’s Al-Kuwait 3-0 in the final held in Oman. That victory came after a four-set semifinal win over Bahrain’s Al-Ahli in the 2024 edition that featured 10 clubs from across the region.
Kuwait Club as the host club will aim to leverage local support at the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Sports Complex Hall where the semifinals take place, the organizers noted in the match schedule. The venue will also host the Bahraini derby later on February 11. Both winners will advance to the final scheduled for February 14 with the losers competing for third place on the same day.
The 4th West Asia Clubs Volleyball Championship began earlier in February with group stage competition that fed into the quarterfinals, Arab Times reported. A total of teams from six countries took part in the tournament organized under the West Asian Volleyball Association. The event runs through February 14 and builds on previous editions that have featured consistent Qatari success at the top of the podium.
