BAHRAIN settled for 20th place overall in the 26th International Handball Federation (IHF) World Men’s Championship following a 27-29 defeat to Austria last night in their final classification in Copenhagen.
After Jassim Al Salatna tied for Bahrain at 25-all with 10 minutes to go, another Al Salatna goal plus one from Mohamed Habib put them ahead by two crucial goals and Bahrain appeared to be on their way to a stunning victory.
The Austrians, however, had other plans and turned the tables on Bahrain. They held their Bahraini opponents scoreless for the rest of the way while doing the necessary job on the offensive end.
Both teams were tied 17-apiece entering the second-half.
Al Salatna top scored for Bahrain with six goals, while Habib contributed five and captain Hussain Al Sayyad four.
Robert Weber led Austria with nine goals. He also received the best-player-of-the-match award.
Rankings
With the result, the Bahrainis secured 20th slot in the final rankings among 24 teams while Austria finished 19th.
It is the highest-ever finish for Bahrain in their three appearances in the biennial IHF competition.
Ranked behind them were Saudi Arabia, unified Korea, Angola and Japan respectively. The rest of the final classification will be determined next week.