HANDBALL – BAHRAIN named yesterday their final 19-player squad that will compete in the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait City.
The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) event is scheduled to get underway tomorrow in the Kuwaiti capital. It will act as the continental qualifier for the 30th IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, to be held in Germany from January 13 to 29 in 2027.
The kingdom’s roster was announced yesterday by the Bahrain Handball Federation. It features inspirational skipper Hussain Al Sayyad, Mohammed Abdulhussain, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Hasan Madan, Mohammed Hameed, Jassim Khamis, Ali Alasheeri, Qassim Qambar, Ahmed Kadhem, Abdulla Abdulkareem, Ali Mahmoud, Hesham Issa, Sayed Ali Basem, Mahmood Hussain, Hussain Mahfoudh, Ali Redha, Jaafar Farsan, and Salman Al Showaikh.
The Bahrainis are scheduled to depart for Kuwait City today. The kingdom’s delegation is to be headed by national team manager Ismail Baqer, and it includes head coach Robert Hedin from Sweden along with members of the technical, administrative, and support staff.
Bahrain are fresh from competing in the 52nd edition of the Yellow Cup – dubbed the biggest handball tournament in Switzerland – where they finished fourth behind the hosts Swiss, North Macedonia, and Ukraine. The nationals had also played international friendly games with Iran and Portugal as part of their preparations for the Asian championship.
The Bahrainis – gold medal winners from last year’s sixth Islamic Solidarity Games – are one of 15 nations from across the continent set to hit the court in the AHF tournament.
They will be playing in Group B for the preliminary round alongside Jordan, China, and Iraq. 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.
The kingdom’s side open their campaign against Jordan at 4pm on Friday, and then play China on Sunday next week at 6pm. They then complete the opening round against Iraq next Tuesday at 4pm. All times are Bahrain.
Following this 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 do not 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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