HANDBALL – BAHRAIN extended their winning start to the 22nd Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait City last night.
After outclassing Jordan in their opening fixture over the weekend, the kingdom’s senior men’s national team scored another convincing victory – a 40-29 decision against China at Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Salim Al Sabah Covered Hall Sports Complex.
The result put the Bahrainis in first place on the Group B table in the competition’s preliminary round. They are tied with Iraq on four points apiece, but are ranked higher with a superior goal difference.
The Iraqis also claimed their second win of the tournament yesterday after edging past their Jordanian counterparts 26-21.
Bahrain and Iraq face off in both teams’ concluding assignments of the preliminaries tomorrow. They will be battling at the same venue at 4pm, Bahrain time.
The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) tournament is scheduled to continue until January 29 in the Kuwaiti capital. It also acts as the continental qualifier for the 30th IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, to be held in Germany from January 13 to 29 next year.
Elsewhere in this opening stage, 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.
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 do not qualify for the main stage will compete in the consolation bracket for the Martyr Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah Cup.
In Bahrain’s win last night, the nationals got off to a rousing start, powering to a 10-3 lead with five unanswered goals, capped by an Ahmed Kadhem conversion. They maintained their fine form over the remainder of the half and led 20-10 heading into the locker rooms.
After the re-start, the Bahrainis kept their comfortable cushion. Salman Alshowaikh gave them their biggest lead of the night with a goal that made it 30-17. They then did well to close things out the rest of the way for the double-digit decision.
Jassim Khamis spearheaded Bahrain in their victory with eight goals, and was later awarded the Best Player of the Match award by the AHF.
Mohammed Habib Ahmed and Mohammed Habib Nasser added six goals apiece, while Kadhem and Alshowaikh contributed four each.
Four players chipped in with two goals, including Qassim Qambar, Ali Alasheeri, Hassan Madan, and skipper Hussain Al Sayyad.
Ziyang Song paced China with five goals.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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