HANDBALL – BAHRAIN claimed their first victory last night in the 11th IHF Men’s Youth World Championship in Cairo, Egypt.
The kingdom’s under-19 handball national team came away with a hard-earned 36-33 victory against fellow-Asian powerhouses South Korea in their concluding fixture of Group G in the tournament’s preliminary round.
The result followed tough losses to continental champions Japan and then to African title holders Egypt.
Despite the win, the Bahrainis were already out of further title contention and will next compete for the President’s Cup – the lower-tier category following the opening stage that will decide 17th to 32nd on the final classification.
The nationals will be in Group IV in this phase along with South Korea, Tunisia, and the US. The South Koreans joined them after finishing last in their pool after their third straight loss yesterday.
Other teams in the President’s Cup are Portugal, Kosovo, Morocco, and Kuwait in Group I; Brazil, Croatia, Algeria, and Guinea in Group II; and Faroe Islands, Uruguay, and two other nations in Group III.
In Bahrain’s game last night, the nationals had a strong start and a goal by Mahdi Ali gave them a 9-5 advantage midway through the first half. They later took a 16-13 lead into the break after conceding a goal to Jinhoo Park right before the buzzer.
After the re-start, the Bahrainis maintained control and a Sayed Ahmed Alfalahi conversion gave them a 25-20 cushion. Their biggest lead over the remainder of the contest was six on multiple occasions before they closed out the well-deserved win.
Abbas Ali finished as Bahrain’s top scorer with nine goals while Salman Alshowaikh added eight. He was later named the national team’s Man of the Match and was awarded with a trophy following the contest.
Mohamed Aadam contributed seven goals for Bahrain, while Mahmood Yusuf and Alfalahi each had three.
Juhyeon Kang was South Korea’s top scorer with eight goals, while Taeryeol Heo and Yongchan Ju had five apiece.
The International Handball Federation (IHF) competition is scheduled to continue until August 17.
Bahrain open their President’s Cup campaign tomorrow against the US at 5.15pm. They then face off with Tunisia the following day, also at 5.15pm. Both times are Bahrain.
The rest of head coach Raed Al Marzooq’s squad in Cairo are Mohamed Tarrada, Ahmed Eid, Mohamed Abdulhusan, Qassim Sabt, Haider Salman, Sayed Majeed Almuhafda, Ali Aryash, Mohamed Abbas, Fadhel Ebrahim, and Ali Jadeed.
The kingdom’s delegation in Cairo is headed by Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) board members Abdulrazzaq Khalil and Ali Al Jokam. The team’s administrator is Mohammed Al Showaikh, while the other delegation members are assistant coach Ahmed Tarada, goalkeeper coach Makram Al Misawi, technical analyst Qasim Mohammed, and physical therapist Karim Hassan.
Bahrain are competing for the sixth time in the history of the competition.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))