HANDBALL – HOSTS Bahrain were last night denied a shot at the gold medals in the boys’ handball tournament of the third Asian Youth Games.
The kingdom’s hopefuls were ousted by Kuwait 21-23 in a thrilling semi-final clash played at the Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) Arena in Um Al Hassam Sports Complex.
The Bahrainis trailed for the entire contest and faced a deficit of five goals midway through the second half. But they made one last push late in the game and got to within a goal with just over two minutes remaining.
Abdullatif Salmin restored Kuwait’s two-goal cushion, however, scoring from the right wing, and then goalkeeper Fahad Almahboub made a crucial stop on an Ahmed Eid effort on Bahrain’s ensuing possession. Abdulhadi Barrak then sealed the Kuwaitis’ triumph after firing in from the six-metre line with only 14 seconds remaining on the clock.
Eid pegged the final score with a goal before the buzzer but it had no bearing on the outcome.
Kuwait thus set up an all-Gulf clash for the boys’ handball crown with Saudi Arabia.
The Saudis won yesterday’s other semi-final 32-24 against China. They used a stellar second period where they outscored their Chinese opponents 17-9 to break a 15-all deadlock at the break.
The gold medal game will be played tomorrow at the BHF Arena, scheduled for a 7pm start. Bahrain and China will face off at 5pm for the boys’ bronze medals.
In the Bahrainis’ tough loss yesterday, they kept things close in the first half and trailed 11-13 at the interval. The Kuwaitis gradually pulled away after the re-start and were ahead 19-14 following a Barrak fast-break goal heading into the concluding quarter-hour.
The home team tried valiantly to narrow the gap and goals from Qassim Sabt, Ahmed Al Samaheeji, and Eid made it 18-20. Saad Alkhamees was then on target for Kuwait to make it 21-18, but Sabt and Abuthar Yateem replied for Bahrain with back-to-back conversions to keep their fight alive at 20-21.
But that paved the way for Salmin’s crucial strike and Almahboub’s decisive save, helping the Kuwaitis secure their win.
Yateem finished as Bahrain’s leading scorer with six goals in the loss while Ahmed Abdulla had four and Eid contributed three.
Salmin was Kuwait’s top performer, firing in nine goals in their victory. Barrak added four and Faisal Alenezi scored three, while Almahboub finished with 10 saves for his team.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ handball tournament, which is being played in league format, Iran took a stranglehold on first place in the standings yesterday with a resounding 43-26 victory over India in their penultimate fixture of their seven-team competition.
The result maintained their undefeated run after five games as they improved to 10 points – two ahead of China and Kazakhstan. All three teams are already mathematically assured of a place on the girls’ podium – with only their finishing order still to be determined.
The Kazakhs completed their schedule yesterday with a 41-18 triumph over Thailand, while Uzbekistan outclassed winless Hong Kong 42-24.
The stage is now set for the final day of girls’ play tomorrow, which will determine the medallists. Iran will face Hong Kong at 1pm as they look to capture the gold medals, while China will be taking on India at 3pm as they aim to secure their best possible finish.
Thailand and Uzbekistan kick things off at 11am in an encounter that will determine their place on the girls’ final ranking.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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