BAHRAIN national handball team last night made history, clinching a berth in the World Men’s Handball Championship to be held in Egypt next January.
A last-ditch 18-17 victory over Saudi Arabia in the 19th Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait triggered triple celebations as Bahrain not only claimed a maiden World Cup spot, to add to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics berth they had claimed last October in Doha, but also secured a place in the semi-finals of the continental event.
The Bahrainis managed to score at the very last second of the match to escape to an epic victory, thanks to Ahmed Fadhul’s all-important goal.
Bahrain join Group One winners Japan in the last four, where they take on defending champions Qatar tomorrow. The Japanese play South Korea in the other semi-final.
Japan confirmed their seat with a convincing 31-19 win over the UAE in yesterday’s other divisional fixture.
The Far Easterners completed the tournament’s main round atop Group One with six points from three wins.
The Bahrainis were runners-up with four from two victories while the UAE were third with one win and two points.
Saudi Arabia finished at the bottom losing all their three matches.
In Group Two, Qatar finished on top, followed by the Koreans, Iran and Kuwait.
South Korea and Iran drew 24-24 in their concluding match last night, which was enough for the Koreans to advance via tie-breaker rules as both teams had three points apiece on the table.
The Bahrainis were the aggressors early on yesterday against Saudi Arabia and they enjoyed a 10-6 lead at the interval.
But their opponents roared back in the second-half and nearly sent the game into a tie, but Fadhul was able to come up with a late goal.
Bahrain’s Ahmed Almaqabi spearheaded the victors with five goals while Fadhul finished with four – none more important than his game-winner.
Mahdi Saad and Ali Merza both finished with two goals while scoring one each were Bilal Askani, Ali Eid, Hasan Al Samahiji, Jassim Alsalatna and captain Hussain Al Sayyad.