BAHRAIN have arrived in Paris for their second ever participation in the Handball World Championships.
Bahrain play their opening game against Sweden tomorrow at 7.45pm. The team have finished the last phase of their training camp in Serbia and will undergo extensive training sessions in the French capital.
Bahrain qualified for the tournament after finishing as runners-up in the 2016 Asian Handball Championship played in Manama, losing to Qatar 27-22 in the final.
Bahrain, alongside Group ‘D’ teams Qatar, Egypt, Sweden, Denmark and Argentina, will be staying at Marriott Hotel.
The Bahraini delegation, headed by Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) head of national teams committee Ismail Baqer, includes Algerian coach Salah Bouchekriou, French fitness coach Nicolas, assistant coach Essam Abdulla, Serbian goalkeeping coach Ninad, team administrator Ahmed Al Najem and physiotherapist Jojick from Slovenia. BHA president Ali Isa will also be arriving in Paris.
Coach Bouchekriou has taken 17 players to represent Bahrain on the international stage, namely Hussain Al Sayad, Mahmoud Abdulqader, Mohammed Abdulhussein, Ali Mirza, Mohammed Mirza, Hassan Shehab, Ali Eid, Mohammed Habib, Hassan Al Samahiji, Jassim Al Salatna, Mohammed Al Maqabi, Ahmed Al Maqabi, Belal Besham, Mahdy Saad, Ali Khamis, Kameel Mahfouz and Hussain Al Qaydoom.
Bahrain kicked off their preparations for the tournament early in August with the first phase seeing them participate in a friendly tournament in Paris finishing in second place.
The second phase consisted of a training sessions in Bahrain early December with the preliminary squad for the tournament, which was cut down to 17 before the end of the second phase.
The third phase saw Bahrain take part in a friendly tournament in Budapest, playing against Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, where they finished third.
The team then travelled to Serbia for the closing stages of their training camp where they played the Serbian national team twice, winning on both occasions with one-goal and four-goal differences.
The BHA has also announced Kuwait Financial House (KFH) as the team’s sponsor in the world championships.
The agreement was signed yesterday between BHA president Isa and KFH executive manager Abdulhakim Al Khayat.
Crowd fervour in Paris could be tempered by security measures as France, favourite to host the 2024 Olympics, is looking to prove its ability to host major sporting events.
“There is already, as everyone knows, a very high security level that exists across our country. We were in touch with all the necessary authorities to take further measures under the responsibility of the organisers,” said French Handball Federation Joel Delplanque.