HANDBALL – BAHRAIN clash with European giants Spain today in their opening assignment of the 25th IHF Men’s U21 World Championship 2025 in Poland.
The competition, run by the International Handball Federation (IHF), officially underway this afternoon, Bahrain time. The Bahrainis one of 32 squads from five confederations taking part in the event.
Bahrain and Spain are in Group H of the competition’s preliminary round alongside African powerhouses Egypt and fellow-Asian side Saudi Arabia.
Their clash today is scheduled for a 12.45pm throw-off. It will be held at Hall Legionow in the Polish city of Kielce.
The kingdom’s nationals are guided by Bahraini tactician Ali Al Falahi and his staff. Bahrain have a squad of 16 of the best junior talent for the under-21 worlds, including Ali Redha, Abbas Hussain, Mohammed Ayyad, Ahmed Al Fardan, Ali Al Madani, Elyas Mohammed, Maitham Ahmed, Abdulla Sameer, Hussain Shawqi, Sayed Mohammed Ali, Sayed Mahmood Ali, Mahmood Jaleel, Salman Al Shuwaikh, Mohammed Maitham, Sayed Hussain Fadhel, and Mohammed Shamloh.
Elsewhere in the preliminary round, Group A features Norway, Slovenia, Uruguay, and hosts Poland; Group B includes Austria, Hungary, Argentina, and Brazil; Group C is composed of Sweden, Japan, South Korea, and the US; Group D comprises Portugal, Croatia, Algeria, and Canada; Group E features Denmark, France, Morocco, and Mexico; Group F includes Iceland, North Macedonia, Romania, and Faroe Islands; and Group G is composed of Tunisia, Serbia, Switzerland, and defending champions Germany.
Following today’s contest, the nationals are set to take on Egypt tomorrow at 3pm. Their last game of the first stage will then be against Saudi on Saturday at 12.45pm. Both times are Bahrain.
At the end of this phase, the top two teams from each of the eight groups will move on to the main round, where they will be divided into another four groups of four sides apiece. That will set the stage for the ensuing quarter-finals, which kick off the knockout rounds to eventually classify the teams from first to 16th, respectively.
The bottom two sides from the four preliminary round groups will play in the President’s Cup bracket, which will determine the teams’ rankings from 17th to 32nd overall at the end of play.
Bahrain qualified for this year’s world IHF Men’s U21 World Championship after placing third in the 18th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship last year in Amman, Jordan. The Bahrainis joined champions Japan and silver-medallists South Korea on the tournament podium. Saudi also qualified for the worlds as fourth-placers in Asia.
This year’s event marks the fourth time Bahrain will be playing in junior handball’s premier global competition.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))