Bahrain created history last night by qualifying for the main round of the World Men’s Handball Championship for the first time.
They finished third in Group D after defeating DR Congo 34-27 at Egypt 2021.
The Congolese, who are playing their debut World Championship, fought hard in every game. However, they suffered their third consecutive defeat and will continue their Egypt 2021 campaign in the President’s Cup.
It was DR Congo’s left wing Olivier Botetsi who scored the first goal of the match, but it did not take long for Bahrain to claim the initiative.
Their goalkeeper Mohamed Abdulhusain recorded five saves in the first 12 minutes, while his teammate Husain Al Sayyad scored three goals in that time, helping the Asian team to a 7-5 lead.
Then, though, DR Congo started to benefit from their opponents’ mistakes and scored thanks to fast breaks. Four unanswered goals in seven minutes propelled the African team to a 9-7 lead.
However, Bahrain hit back with an even better 5-0 run, between the 19th and 28th minute, and at the break, they held a two-goal advantage (14-12).
The close fight continued well into the second half, yet the Asian team still had the upper hand.
Abdulhusain was very present between the posts, finishing the game on 13 saves, while his teammates found their way past the African defence and were up 24-21 by minute 45.
“Maybe our defence was not as good as against Argentina, as DR Congo have a strong pivot. But the most important thing is that we won,” Bahrain’s coach Halldor Sigfusson said after the match.
Indeed, DR Congo’s line player Gautier Mvumbi caused many problems for Bahrain’s defence, scoring five goals from five attempts after the break. However, his effort was not enough as the Asians performed better as a team and were more efficient in attack.
Al Sayyad had a special impact with his nine goals, and five minutes before the final buzzer, Bahrain had established a four-goal lead (29-25), with their win no longer being in danger.
DR Congo’s Gauthier Mvumbi took home the player of the match award, having scored five goals from five tries.
Bahrain will slot into Group II of the main round, which they will start on zero points.
DR Congo drop into the President’s Cup.
In their three previous World Championship appearances, Bahrain had never advanced from the preliminary group.
Meanwhile, Spain kept their record unblemished at Egypt 2021 after their 36-30 win against Tunisia in the last game of the preliminary round.
The Spanish win also secured main round berths for Brazil and Poland, with Tunisia continuing the competition in Group I of the President’s Cup.
It was far from a walk in the park for the reigning European champions, as there were four lead changes in the first 15 minutes, with Spain unable to contain the creative and pacey Tunisian attack.
The tables turned, though, when Tunisia were not able to find a way to stop the Spanish attack.
Spanish left wing Angel Fernandez Perez scored four goals in a row, resulting in a 4-1 run that saw Jordi Ribera’s side take a 11-8 lead.
With Fernandez and line player Ruben Marchan Criado having a combined tally of 12 of Spain’s 17 goals in the first half, Tunisia were trailing 14-17 at half-time and left fighting for a main round spot in the last 30 minutes of the game.
The challenge was to limit Spain’s attack, which had a 74 per cent shot efficiency in the first half. Tunisia barely managed to lower it (71 per cent), and never got their own attack going.
It had something to do with a superb display from Spanish goalkeeper Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, who saved 18 shots to reach an outstanding 39 per cent efficiency.
However, whenever Tunisia felt like they could get close to Spain, they conceded easy goals, with Gedeon Guardiola and Alex Dujshebaev converting two consecutive empty-goal shots to lift the European powerhouse to a 28:23 lead.
As player of the match Fernandez hit the ten-goal mark, Tunisia collapsed entirely, with Spain clinching an impressive 36-30 win after their best game in the tournament.
Unbeaten in three games at Egypt 2021, Spain will start the main round on three points, as Poland and Brazil also secured their ticket to the next round.
For the second time in the past five editions of the IHF Men’s World Championship, Tunisia failed to progress from the preliminary round, as they are heading to Group I of the President’s Cup, where they will face two other African teams, Angola and DR Congo.
In a thrilling final group match for Japan and Angola, both teams had the chance to grab a spot for the main round.
After two close and hard-fought halves, it was Japan who came away with a 30:29 victory, their first win in this World Championship.
They now progress to the main round for the first time.
Angola will move to the President’s Cup, still looking for their first win at Egypt 2021.