SURABAYA, Indonesia, July 22: The Kuwait youth volleyball team will kick off its campaign in the Asian Under-20 Championship today in Surabaya, Indonesia, which runs until July 31. They will face the Japanese national team at 3 PM in their opening match of Group C, which also features India and Bahrain. Additionally, Qatar will play Chinese Taipei, Saudi Arabia will take on Australia, Iran will face China, Hong Kong will compete against Indonesia, Thailand will play Kazakhstan, and Vietnam will clash with South Korea.

The Kuwaiti team will play its second match tomorrow against India and will conclude the preliminary round against Bahrain on July 25. In preparation for the Asian Championship, the team held an external training camp in Cairo, Egypt, where they played several trial matches against the Egyptian junior national team, Shabab Al-Sharqiya Club, and Heliolido Club.

The Kuwaiti delegation is led by Jassem Al-Failakawi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Kuwait Volleyball Association. The delegation includes Abdulaziz Al-Failakawi, the national team director, and the technical staff, headed by coach Jassem Al-Tarrawah, assistant coach Osama Madkour, and physiotherapist Moataz Ezzedine. The 14 players on the team are Fawaz Al-Mishaal, Ali Dashti, Barak Al-Nasser, Faisal Al-Sarraj, Hamoud Al-Masoud, Ahmed Al-Hamdan, Abdulaziz Al-Enezi, Khaled Bouaraki, Abdulaziz Al-Hashemi, Ahmed Al-Mutairi, Rashid Abdulkarim, Rashid Al-Nuaimi, Mahdi Hassan, and Ahmed Shaker.

Head coach Jassem Al-Tarrawah expressed his hope that the team will achieve positive results in the Asian Under-20 Volleyball Championship. He highlighted that the training camp in Cairo was essential for improving the players' physical fitness and honing their skills in preparation for the competition.

Khaled El Anzi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff