Bahrain’s under-18 handball team returned to heroes’ welcome after winning the Asian Men’s Youth Championship 2018 in Amman.
The team members were received by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar along with other high-ranking sports officials.
Bahrain defeated Japan 34-31 in a crunch final on Wednesday to lift the winners’ trophy. They had already secured a place in the World Championship in Spain after reaching the semi-finals of the continental event.
Backed by delegation head and Bahrain Handball Association president Ali isa Esaaqi, Bahrain were unbeaten in all their matches throughout the competition, including a come-from-behind 27-23 win over Japan in the main round.
The Bahrainis, coached by national tactician Mohammed Al Muraghi, registered consecutive wins over Saudi Arabia, Oman and China in the first round, followed by victories against Japan, India and Jordan in the second stage. Later, they eased past Chinese Taipei by a seven-goal margin in the semi-finals.
The team comprised Adel Mohammed, Mujtaba Al Zaymour, Ali Jaffer, Mohammed Habib, Moayyed Shaib, Qasim Jaffer, Sayed Ali Bassim and goalkeeper Hussain Amin.
Askar congratulated the team on their triumph and also hailed the support of His Majesty the King’s representative for Charity Work and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and BOC president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.