Hosts Al Wasl started their campaign in the 20th edition of the GCC Volleyball Club Championship with an easy 25-21, 25-12, 25-14 win over Sohar Club of neighbouring Oman in the opening game of the tournament yesterday.

It was a satisfying day for Abdullah Ali Rajab, who is the first UAE national to turn professional volleyball coach as Al Wasl overcame a sluggish start to completely dominated the Omani champions. The champion teams from GCC member states play in this club championship.

While Al Wasl's performance warmed the cockles of the home team supporters, coach of the six-time champions Bahrain's Muharraq must have taken serious note of the hosts as they displayed an uncanny coordination as they carried out the demolition job with clinical efficiency.

In the first game, Sohar players looked in good touch as they matched their rivals block for block and smash for smash to keep the scores running neck and neck until 18.

But the unfortunate exit of their spiker Salah Al Sahi at the score of 13-13 proved to be a big blow to them. Salah won a point with a telling smash but landed badly on his knee and had to be carried to a hospital further checkups and subsequent treatment.

But as the game wore on, Al Wasl tighten their grip with better coordination to win 25-21.

Then on it Al Wasl all the way as pep-talk by Rajab did wonders and their understanding improved a great deal while countering the rivals. Even a couple of unforced errors and bad services didn't cause much damage to their cause.

Al Wasl's international star Mohammed Al Maary, sporting an unusual hairstyle, was in superb form as he executed some unreturnable smashes.

Ibrahim Khalfan lent good support to Al Maari while playing a perfect 'decoy' to often catch the rival defence on the wrong foot.

With Hassan Rajab and Khalid Issa combine proving to be a 'stumbling block' in Sohar spikers efforts to score winners, the Al Wasl team co-ordination was like a well configured software and on the other hand the Sohar team looked a virus-hit programme as Al Wasl spikers found gaps at will.

The 17-day training camp in Tunisia for Al Wasl proved to be a good exercise as they showed much better teamwork and suppleness in covering the court compared to their rivals Sohar.

It was a performance that deserved an ovation but alas, there were very few spectators to back the home team heroes on the first day of the tournament.
Today: 4pm: Al Arabi (Qatar) v Al Jahra (Kuwait); 5.30pm: Al Ahli v Muharraq.