HANDBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s handball national team – gold medal winners from the recently held sixth Islamic Solidarity Games – have begun their preparations for the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship.
The continental competition, organised and to be run by the Asian Handball Federation (AHF), takes place January 15 to 29 in Kuwait.
The championship will also serve as the Asian qualification tournament for the 30th IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, to be held in Germany from January 13 to 29 in 2027.
The Bahrainis are one of 15 squads from across Asia set to hit the court in the event.
They will be playing in Group B of the preliminary round alongside Iraq, China, and Jordan. Group A features defending champions Qatar, South Korea, and Oman; Group C is composed of the UAE, Hong Kong, India, and hosts Kuwait; and Group D comprises Iran, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Japan, who were the silver-medallists from the previous edition.
Bahrain hosted the last Asian championship in 2024, where they finished as bronze-medallists.
The Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) announced a 22-player roster selected by Swedish head coach Robert Hedin to begin gearing up for the tournament.
The list includes long-time inspirational skipper Hussain Al Sayyad, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Mohammed Hameed, Qassim Qambar, Hussein Mahfouz, Ali Mahmoud, Ali Redha, Jaafar Abdulshaheed, Mahmoud Jaleel, Salman Al Shuwaikh, Ali Al Asheeri, Hesham Ahmed, Hassan Al Samaheeji, Hassan Mirza, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Mohammed Abdulhussein, Sayed Ali Basim, Ahmed Al Maqabi, Ahmed Redha, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Jassim Khamis, and Mohammed Hussein Shamlooh.
The nationals have already begun local training at the BHF Arena in Um Al Hassam Sports Complex.
They are also scheduled to travel to Portugal where they will play a number of friendly games against the Portuguese national team in the beginning of January. They will then participate in an international friendly tournament in Switzerland which features three European teams, including Macedonia, Ukraine, and the host Swiss, the BHF said.
In next year’s Asian championship, Bahrain open their campaign against Jordan on January 16. They then play China on January 18, before completing the opening round against Iraq on January 20.
Following a single round-robin, the top two teams from each group move on to the main round, where they will be divided into two further groups. After another round, the semi-finalists will be determined, who will clash on January 27. All four teams in this stage will also book their berths in the worlds in 2027.
The gold and bronze medal games are then set for January 29.
The teams who don’t qualify for the main stage will compete in the consolation bracket for the Martyr Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah Cup.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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