HANDBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s handball national team received a visit from Cabinet Affairs Ministry Undersecretary, Olympic Council of Asia vice-president, and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa during their training in preparation for the Arab Handball Cup 2025.
The nine-nation tournament is set to be held in Kuwait City from Monday to May 11.
Shaikh Isa conveyed to the team the greetings of Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman, and BOC president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
Shaikh Isa praised the efforts of the technical staff, led by recently signed Serbian head coach Predrag Petljanski, and affirmed his confidence in the squad’s ability to come away with strong results in the tournament.
The Bahrainis are in Group A for the tournament’s preliminary round with African powerhouses Egypt and Iraq.
The nationals begin their campaign against the Iraqis on the championship’s opening day on Monday, scheduled for a 3pm start. They then take on their Egyptian rivals on Wednesday at 5pm. Both times are Bahrain.
Group B for the competition’s first phase is composed of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia; while Group C features hosts Kuwait, the UAE, and Morocco. Following a single round-robin, each of the three group winners will move on to the semi-finals, where they will be joined by the best second-placed team.
This year’s tournament is the 10th edition of the event, which has been revived after a long hiatus, having been last held more than 20 years ago in 2002, when Bahrain won the title for the first and only time.
The event also acts as a preparatory tournament for the participating continental sides who will be battling it out in the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship, which is slated for January and February next year.
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