Students shine on court

The Bahrain Private Schools Sports League held a week of championship tournaments for qualifying schools, here in Bahrain, sponsored by GulfWeekly.

The volleyball season began back in September, with schools from the north and south of the island playing in regional festivals to seed the top four and bottom five schools based on age and gender.

End-of-season tournaments in recent days saw the top four teams from each age category play to fight it out for the title of overall champions and the coveted GulfWeekly plaque.

The tournaments were well attended by players, students and supporting parents. The quality of play on the courts has been commented on by many of the coaches to be of the ‘highest standard’ seen for many years.

“Congratulations to all the teams that made the finals, and especially those that came away with a winners’ medal and trophy,” said athletic director and PE teacher, Dave Horner.

“The BPSSL would like to thank GulfWeekly for its continued support of school sports, and for presenting the inaugural annual prize plaque at each tournament.”

The plaques are now being inscribed with the names of the champions and will be formally presented in all their glory by Editor Stan Szecowka at coming school assemblies.

SENIOR BOYS VOLLEYBALL

The Senior Boys Volleyball Finals were staged at the British School of Bahrain and saw Bahrain School, St Christopher’s School, Riffa Views International School (RVIS) and Modern Knowledge School (MKS) face off in a thrilling display of top quality volleyball matches, writes Luke Radley.

The tournament was run on a knock-out basis where the winners of each league (North/South) played the runners-up of the opposite league in a semi-final match before moving onto either the final or 3rd and 4th place play-off.

The first of the two semi-finals was between Bahrain School (the winners of the North League) and RVIS (the South’s runners-up). A hugely impressive Bahrain School team produced a classy performance to cruise past the RVIS team in a two sets to love victory, securing their place in the tournament final.

In the second semi-final, St Christopher’s School (winners of the South League) took on MKS (runners-up in the North) in an exhilarating three-set match-up.

The first set was too close to call with MKS pipping St Christopher’s School to the post 29-27. This, however, seemed to take too much out of MKS, who had to battle hard against a now solid St Christopher’s team for the remainder of the match. St Christopher’s eventually secured the next two sets and the match.

The 3rd and 4th place play-off saw RVIS take on MKS. This match was another three-set spectacle which saw both teams demonstrating an incredible amount of determination and desire for the duration. Eventually, RVIS took the third set, and overall victory, securing third place for the school.

This left the final, played between, fittingly, the top teams of both leagues. Bahrain School started well, building on their previous performance and continued to put together a class act for much of the game. They showed a fantastic level of ability and looked clear favourites from the outset. A determined St Christopher’s put up a brave fight but Bahrain School proved too tough and won convincingly in two sets.

The tournament was a huge success and credit to all the teams, coaches and supporters involved.

Final tournament standings:
1st Bahrain School
2nd St Christopher’s School
3rd Riffa Views International School
4th Modern Knowledge School
South League winners – St Christopher’s School
North League winners – Bahrain School
Overall Champions – Bahrain School

Senior Girls VOLLEYBALL

THE Senior Girls Volleyball Finals were staged at The Bahrain School in Juffair and the host’s pulled off an impressive victory in a tough encounter with St Christopher’s School.

Final tournament standings:
1st Bahrain School
2nd St Christopher’s School
3rd Bayan School
4th Modern Knowledge School
South League winners – St Christopher’s School
North League winners – Bahrain School
Overall Champions – Bahrain School

Intermediate Girls VOLLEYBALL

The Intermediate Girls Volleyball Finals were hosted at Bahrain Bayan School and another home victory was secured as Bayan took on fellow southern rivals St Christopher’s School and Bahrain School and MKS from the North.

The majority of the matches proved to be close, thrilling encounters featuring tense, electrifying games that truly displayed what a tough sport this can be. Despite it being a close call, Bahrain Bayan School managed to take first place, with Bahrain School runners-up, followed by St Christopher’s School and MKS.

Final tournament standings:
1st Bahrain Bayan School
2nd Bahrain School
3rd St Christophers School
4th Modern Knowledge School
South League winners – Bahrain Bayan School
North League winners – Bahrain School

Intermediate Boys VOLLEYBALL

The Intermediate Boys Volleyball Finals took place at St Christopher’s School and once more the home side excelled. With one team withdrawing, the contest resulted in three teams playing.

There were some very impressive individual and team performances. MKS and St Christopher’s played the final game as a decider.

The match went to three sets with St Christopher’s winning 11-6 to became the champions.

Final tournament standings:
1st St Christopher’s School
2nd Modern Knowledge School
3rd Ibn Khuldoon National School
South League winners – St Christopher’s
North League winners – MKS

Junior Boys VOLLEYBALL

St Christopher’s School hosted the U13 Junior Boys Volleyball Finals and celebrated with its representatives taking top spot and the runner’s-up position.

The school’s A Team played Modern Knowledge School in the last pool game to take the title, winning all their matches. St Christopher’s B team finished runners-up with some excellent pool games, narrowly losing to the eventual champions in an early encounter by two games to one.

Final tournament standings:
1st St Christopher’s School A
2nd St Christopher’s School B
3rd Modern Knowledge School
4th Al Raja School
South League winners – St Christopher’s School A
North League winners – Modern Knowledge School

JUNIOR Girls VOLLEYBALL

The Junior Girls Volleyball Finals were held at Riffa Views International School. The teams were evenly matched and every game went to three set tie-breakers. The eventual champions were crowned on points’ difference, underlining the competitive level between the teams.

Bahrain School came into the tournament as Northern League champions and set the tone early with a two-point victory over Modern Knowledge School (MKS) in their first game. The second round of games saw St Christopher’s play MKS in a game which saw multiple lead changes. MKS eventually pulled away to win the game after dropping the first set.

The final round of games saw several scenarios where multiple teams could have won the tournament. Bahrain School suffered a costly loss against St Christopher’s, which cost them the winner’s trophy, while MKS held their game together to defeat Bahrain Bayan School and take the title.

Final tournament standings:
1st Modern Knowledge School
2nd St Christopher’s School
3rd Bahrain School
4th Bahrain Bayan School
South League winners – St Christopher’s School
North League winners – Bahrain School