HANDBALL – BAHRAIN bowed to Tunisia 27-39 yesterday in their opening game of the President’s Cup in the 25th IHF Men’s U21 Handball World Championship 2025, currently being played in Poland.
The President’s Cup is being played between the participating teams who are battling for 17th to 32nd places on the tournament’s final rankings.
The Bahrainis fell behind early against their African counterparts and already faced a heavy 14-23 deficit at the half. They never recovered from there, falling behind by as many as 17 in the final 30 minutes after the Tunisians went on a 10-3 rally that turned a 27-17 lead to a commanding 37-20 cushion.
The nationals were able to reduce the gap to just 12 by the final buzzer.
Elias Ali was Bahrain’s leading scorer in the loss with six goals, while Sayed Mahmood Alfalahi added five and Salman Alshowaikh scored four.
For Tunisia, Kousay Ben Fraj had seven goals, Najib Hadded added six, and Khalil Barboura scored five.
The Bahrainis and Tunisians are in Group IV for this round in the competition. In yesterday’s other divisional fixture, Serbia beat Saudi Arabia 35-30.
Bahrain are scheduled to take on Serbia today at 12.45pm, Bahrain time. They will no longer be playing their Saudi counterparts in this stage, as their win against their Gulf neighbours from the preliminary round has carried over.
Also in the President’s Cup are hosts Poland, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay in Group I; Algeria, South Korea, the US, and Canada in Group II; and Morocco, Iceland, North Macedonia, and Mexico in Group III.
In the main round, which comprises the teams still with a chance of taking the title, Austria, Norway, Slovenia, and Hungary are in Group I; Sweden, Portugal, Croatia, and Japan are in Group II; Faroe Islands, Denmark, France, and Romania are in Group III; and defending champions Germany, Egypt, Spain, and Switzerland are in Group IV.
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