BEACH HANDBALL – BAHRAIN have been drawn in a tough Group A for the men’s beach handball tournament at the sixth Asian Beach Games 2026, set to take place in Sanya, China, from April 22 to 30.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) event is set to feature delegations representing 45 National Olympic Committees, who will be competing in 14 sports comprising 15 disciplines and a total of 61 events.
Beach handball will feature competitions for both men and women, with the kingdom’s representatives one of 15 sides in the men’s event.
The draw was held yesterday by the Sanya Asian Beach Games Organising Committee.
Bahrain have been slotted into Group A for their tournament’s preliminary round alongside China, Iran, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, and Sri Lanka; while Group B features Oman, Pakistan, Jordan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Thailand, Qatar, and Mongolia.
For the women’s beach handball tournament, Group A includes Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Thailand; while Group B is composed of China, India, Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia.
Matches in the beach handball events are scheduled from opening day to the last. They will be held at West of Tianya Haijiao Scenic Area. Both the men’s and women’s gold medal contests are scheduled to take place on April 30.
According to a Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) official, the kingdom’s senior men’s beach handball national team have yet to begin their training for the event. The BHF confirmed, however, the results of the draw.
Bahrain’s squad are one of the top sides in the Gulf, having won the silver medals at the third GCC Beach Games, held last year in Muscat, Oman. The kingdom’s representatives joined hosts and gold-medallists Oman and bronze-medal winners the UAE on the podium.
Meanwhile, draws for other sports also took place yesterday, including for men’s beach soccer and men’s and women’s beach kabaddi.
It has yet to be announced the number of sports that Bahrain will be participating in at Sanya. Aside from beach handball, beach soccer, and beach kabaddi, the others are aquatics including open water swimming and water polo, beach athletics, 3x3 basketball, dragon boat, jiu-jitsu, sailing, speed sports climbing, teqball, aquathlon triathlon, beach volleyball, and beach wrestling.
This year’s edition of the Asian Beach Games will be the first time the multi-sport event is to be held in a decade – with the previous occasion in 2016 when it took place in Da Nang, Vietnam.
Bahrain also participated then, winning two gold medals – one in bodybuilding through Ali Abdulrasool and another in jiu-jitsu with Ali Monfaradi.
The kingdom’s senior men’s beach handball national team were also in action. They finished an impressive fifth overall behind the top three of Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, and Vietnam.
In the past five editions of the Asian Beach Games, Bahrain have bagged a total of 11 medals, including seven gold, three silver, and one bronze.
The national delegation’s best-ever participation was in the fourth Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand in 2014, when they came away with five gold and two silver medals.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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