Bahrain signed off from the fourth GCC Games in Doha, Qatar last night with the kingdom’s senior men’s handball national team powering to a resounding 31-20 victory over the UAE in the concluding fixture of their tournament.
With the nationals having already been crowned men’s handball champions at the Qatari capital after defeating the hosts in their penultimate fixture on Tuesday, head coach Robert Hedin opted to field a young but supremely talented squad against the Emiratis yesterday, and they did not disappoint.
Determined to wrap up their campaign at Duhail Handball Hall on a high, the nationals controlled the contest from the start and led by as many as 12 goals late on.
Their triumph was their fourth in as many outings as they completed their title-winning run in the men’s handball competition at this year’s GCC Games with an unbeaten record.
Bahrain are set to be awarded their gold medals tonight following the curtain-closing clash between Qatar and Saudi Arabia, scheduled for a 6.30pm start at the same venue.
The Qataris and Saudis are vying for the silver medals.
The game is part of today’s final day’s programme of the fourth GCC Games, which was a hugely successful one for Bahrain’s delegation, who picked up a sensational 63 medals including 25 gold, 22 silver, and 16 bronze.
Amongst the youngsters who came up big for the nationals last night were Ahmed Eid, Salman Al Showaikh, Jassim Khamis, Ali Abdulla, Jaafar Al Fursan, Mohamed Rabia, Ahmed Kadhem, and goalkeeper Hesham Issa.
Bahrain were first on the board in the match when Khamis fired in from the six-metre line on the right wing.
Al Showaikh later scored on a fastbreak to make it 4-1, and then Al Fursan converted to extend their lead to 10-6.
Abdulla and Al Fursan scored with back-to-back goals to further push the Bahrainis ahead 12-7, and then Rabia and Khamis were on target for a 14-10 advantage.
Veteran Ahmed Fadhul scored from the seven-metre stripe seconds before the break to put Bahrain up 15-10, and then the in-form Issa made a brilliant save on an Emirati penalty attempt right after the half-time buzzer sounded to help preserve their cushion.
After the re-start, the Bahrainis upped their play and Eid opened their scoring in the concluding 30-minute period.
He later converted a penalty to make it 20-13, and after Al Showaikh netted from the right wing to make it 21-16, Bahrain strung together five unanswered goals – two from Rabia, and one apiece from Eid, Kadhem, and Ali Mahmoud – to build a commanding 26-16 gap with just under a quarter-hour left to play.
The nationals cruised from there, and successive strikes from Abdulla and Fadhul gave them their biggest lead of the night of 12, 31-19, before the Emiratis pegged the final score.
Bahrain’s senior men’s handball national team have been crowned GCC Games champions for the second time.
They had also won in the inaugural edition of the multi-sport event hosted by the kingdom in 2011, and then were silver-medallists both in 2015 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia and in 2022 in Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Bahrain participated with a total of 219 delegation members in Doha, headlined by 146 athletes – 100 men and 46 women. Handball was one of the sports the kingdom competed in, with the others being archery, athletics, 3x3 basketball, billiards, boxing, equestrian, fencing, karate, padel, shooting, snooker, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and volleyball.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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