BAHRAIN qualified for the Youth Handball World Championship in Georgia after reaching the final of the Seventh Asian Handball Championship following a 23-19 win over Qatar 23-19 at the Khalifa Sports City hall in Isa Town.
Yesterday’s match saw the largest crowd turnout in the tournament as fans cheered the team from the start until the last minutes.
The Bahraini players put up a brilliant performance to outplay a tough Qatari side who came out better than their previous game against South Korea.
The first half ended with Bahrain leading 12-10 as they let a four-goal lead go away due to lack of concentration.
Bahrain’s Ahmed Jalal and Abdulla Yasin were the star players of the first half, while Ahmed Ghazal and Hassan Mirza were nowhere to be seen on the field.
The team, however, depended on Abdulla Ali’s movements within the field without any danger from their Qatari opponents.
The second half saw Qatar strength up their game and manage to draw 15-15.
Bahrain seemed to lose their plot as they failed to find their way around the field and missed a couple of chances.
However, with guidance from coach Ibrahim Abbas and discipline from the players, Bahrain got back into the game and take a 21-15 lead.
Qatar’s vicious attack got them back into the game as they cut the deficit at 21-18.
However, Bahrain’s Qassim Al Shuwaikh made crucial saves in the dying minutes to secure the country’s place in the final and the World Championship.
Bahrain will face Japan in the final tomorrow at 6.30pm.
Japan scored a last-grasp goal to claim a 30-29 win against defending champions South Korea.
As expected, the match saw both teams fight until the last minute in hopes of qualifying, as Japan hit the game-winning goal in the final three seconds.
Japan also ended the first half with a three-goal lead at 17-14.
The fifth to eighth placed playoff matches saw Saudi Arabia defeat Uzbekistan 44-23 while Iraq claimed a win against China 30-28.
Iraq and Saudi will go head to head today at 6.30pm as the winner will claim fifth place, while China and Uzbekistan will face each other at 5pm to decide the seventh-placed team.
The third place playoff will take place tomorrow between Qatar and South Korea at 5pm.
The winner of the third place playoff will qualify along with the finalists to the World Championship.
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