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Bahrain qualified for the main round of the handball competition in the 19th Asian Games by thrashing Uzbekistan 47-25 yesterday in their second preliminary round Group C game in Hangzhou, China.
The Reds’ second successive win meant that they topped the three-team group with four points and will now play South Korea, who placed second in Group B, in their first Group 1 main round match tomorrow.
Having come off a dominant 45-22 victory over Kazakhstan in their first Group C game two days earlier, Bahrain were in command from the start yesterday, speeding to a 25-8 lead at half-time and continuing their imperious march to a comprehensive win in the second half.
“We started very well, the players were very focused and we got into a big lead early,” a pleased Bahrain head coach Aron Kristjansson told the GDN by phone from Hangzhou.
“We were able to build, and keep the pressure on the Uzbeks in the first half which meant that we had a 17-goal lead at half-time. So the first half was very good for us but, I felt, we fell away a bit in the second half because our players seemed to lose concentration and the Uzbeks managed to score too many goals.”
With the job done in the preliminary round, Kristjansson said that the team was now focused on the upcoming games in the main round where, after their first game against South Korea, Bahrain will face Iran and Kuwait on successive days with no rest in between.
“We’re looking forward to the main round,” he said.
“It’ll be difficult because we’ll play three games in three days against some very good teams. So it’s a tough task but our first goal is to reach the semi-finals so we can get into contention for the medals.”
The game against South Korea would be sure to test his team, Kristjansson added.
“It’s going to be very tough,” he said.
“They’re a very good side. And, even though they lost to Qatar 31-27 in their last Group B game, they played very well. So they’re going to present a very strong challenge.”
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