HANDBALL – BAHRAIN have named their final 18-player roster that will compete in the inaugural edition of the Asian Men’s U-17 Handball Championship.
The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) tournament is scheduled to get underway tomorrow and it will be held in Amman, Jordan.
It also serves as the continental qualifier for the IHF Men’s U-17 Handball World Championship, to be held in Morocco from October 24 to November 1. The top two teams from this Asian tournament will book their tickets to the worlds.
The final list of players announced by the Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) features Mahdi Fateel, Sayed Majeed Al Muhafaza, Wadih Hilal, Sayed Mahmoud Basem, Issa Babour, Sayed Ali Bashar, Ali Adel, Abdulla Hussain, Hassan Saif, Ahmed Abdulla, Ali Mahrous, Sayed Omran Al Muhafaza, Jaafar Al Zain, Hussain Qasim, Mohammed Hilal, Mahmood Ali, Sayed Noah Mohammed, and Mohammed Al Marzouq.
The kingdom’s representatives are scheduled to depart for the Jordanian capital today ahead of tomorrow’s start of play.
The Bahraini delegation is to be headed by BHF national teams director Ismail Baqer, and it includes Egyptian head coach Mohammed Abdelrahman, assistant coach Akbar Al Marzouq, and other officials.
The Bahrainis are one of 13 cadets national teams from across the continent taking part. They are set to play in Group A in the competition’s preliminary round alongside Hong Kong and Kuwait.Group B features Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and China; while Group C comprises Jordan, Chinese Taipei and India. Group D includes South Korea, Iran, the Maldives, and Syria.
According to the AHF, the Syrians had not initially registered to participate in the championship, but after the event was rescheduled from July to September due to regional events, they registered.
The Syrians have replaced Uzbekistan in Group D, after the Uzbeks withdrew from taking part just last week.
Bahrain are only scheduled to open their tournament campaign on Tuesday against Hong Kong at 11am. They then wrap up their preliminary round schedule against Kuwait on Wednesday at 1pm. Both times are Bahrain.
Following a single round-robin, the top two teams from each group move on to the main round, where they will be divided into another two groups of four. Another round-robin will be played to determine the semi-finalists, which will be held on September 23. The gold and bronze medal games are then set for September 25, the championship’s concluding day.
The sides that will not make it into the main round will compete in a lower-tier competition for the Martyr Fahad al Ahmad Al Sabah Cup, which will determine ninth through 13th, respectively.
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