BAHRAIN outclassed Oman 30-23 yesterday to top Group ‘B’ in the preliminary round of the 18th Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Suwon, South Korea.
The Bahrainis held a 19-8 advantage at half-time and did well to register their second victory in as many outings.
The result earned them the top spot in their group as they advanced into the tournament’s main stage. Oman finished runners-up while Australia, who lost both their matches, play for minor classifications.
Mahmood Abdulqader led Bahrain’s scorers with seven goals. Mahdi Saad added five and Ahmed Fadhul and Ali Merza four each. Mohammed Habib and Mohamed Abdulredha chipped in with three goals apiece while Hasan Al Fardan, Mohamed Al Maqabi, Jassim Al Salatna and Hussain Al Sayyed scored one each.
For Oman, Asad Al Hasani top scored with eight goals while Mahnad Al Zarafi contributed four.
In other results yesterday, Iran beat Japan 37-32 in Group ‘A’; hosts South Korea edged past the UAE 21-20 and India trounced Bangladesh 41-11 in Group ‘C’.
China beat New Zealand 31-14 while defending champions Qatar outplayed Saudi Arabia 30-20.
Last night’s games completed the preliminary round with the top two teams from each group moving to the main round which features two groups.
Group One include Iran, Oman, South Korea and Saudi Arabia while Group Two features Japan, the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.
Today is a rest day and action resumes tomorrow with Bahrain taking on the UAE at 1pm, Bahrain time. The nationals then take on Qatar the next day before playing Japan on Wednesday.
Classification section also features two groups. Group Three features Uzbekistan, India and New Zealand while Group Four includes Australia, China and Bangladesh.
The Asian championship also acts as the continental qualifier for the 2019 World Championship with the top four nations going through to the to next year’s finals to be held in Denmark and Germany.
Bahrain are looking to secure their third appearance in the world event, having earlier qualified for the 2011 and 2017 competitions. The Bahrainis are also looking to secure their first Asian title, having finished runners-up in the last two editions in 2014 and 2016.
Tomorrow’s games
(All times Bahrain)
9am: Iran vs Saudi Arabia; Uzbekistan vs New Zealand
11am: Qatar vs Japan, Bangladesh vs Australia. 1pm: UAE vs Bahrain, Oman vs South Korea