HANDBALL – BAHRAIN suffered a narrow 30-33 defeat against hosts Switzerland in their second game of the 52nd Yellow Cup – dubbed the biggest handball tournament held on Swiss soil.
The kingdom’s senior men’s national team battled hard in the contest and got to within a single goal, 30-31, with only three minutes to play. But the home team managed to close things out in crunch time to hand the Bahrainis a second successive loss.
The nationals are making their debut in the high-profile friendly competition, which also features the senior men’s squads of North Macedonia and Ukraine. North Macedonia defeated their Ukrainian counterparts 31-26 in the other fixture on Friday night, the tournament’s second and penultimate day.
The Bahrainis face off with Ukraine in their final contest while the Swiss take on North Macedonia.
The kingdom’s side are competing in the Yellow Cup as part of their preparations for the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship. The continental event takes place from Thursday next week to January 29 in Kuwait City, and it will act as the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) qualifier for the 30th IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, to be held in Germany from January 13 to 29 in 2027.
Bahrain head coach Robert Hedin from Sweden has a 19-player squad in Europe, led by inspirational captain Hussain Al Sayyad. Other players on the roster are Al Samaheeji, Mohammed Abdulhussain, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Hussain Mahfoudh, Jaffar Abdulshaheed, Mohammed Hameed, Hesham Ahmed, Salman Al Showaikh, Qassim Qamber, Ahmed Redha, Sayed Ali Basem, Hassan Madan, Ahmed Almaqabi, Ali Mahmood, Jassim Khamis, Ali Redha, and Ali Alasheeri.
Bahrain – gold medal winners from last year’s sixth Islamic Solidarity Games – are one of 15 nations from across Asia set to hit the court in Kuwait City. They will be playing in Group B for the preliminary round alongside Iraq, China, and Jordan.
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