HANDBALL – BARBAR stunned defending champions Al Najma last night while Al Ahli overcame Al Shabab in the opening evening of the best-of-three Golden Square semi-finals of the 2025-26 Khalid bin Hamad Bahrain Handball League.
Barbar edged past Najma 35-32 in a tense penalty shootout after regulation ended in a 31-all stalemate, while Ahli powered past a battling Shabab 33-31.
The two fixtures were played at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.
Barbar and Ahli will now look to complete a sweep and punch their tickets to the final when they play their respective second games tomorrow. Najma and Shabab will fight to extend their series and force winner-take-all third games, which, if necessary, will take place on Saturday.
Komail Mahfoudh appeared to have given Najma the victory late in regular time after scoring from the six-metre line with only 12 seconds remaining. But Barbar were quick to respond, and Maitham Mahdi brought the game back on level terms with a goal from the left wing as the final buzzer sounded.
In the shootout, Mohammed Abdulla got things underway and he put Barbar in front, but Mujtaba Al Zaimour answered right back for Najma.
Mahdi then gave Barbar the lead for good, as Najma veteran Ahmed Fadhul hit the woodwork. Salman Al Showaikh extended Barbar’s slim lead to 34-32, and then Mohammed Habib Ahmed sent his floating shot effort into the right post.
Ali Ahmed sealed the victory for Barbar, coolly converting his attempt from the seven-metre stripe. Barbar held an 18-14 advantage at the break but Najma came alive after the re-start and even took the lead late on, setting the stage for the game’s dramatic finish.
Al Showaikh finished as Barbar’s leading scorer with nine goals, while Ali Abdulqader chipped in with seven and Hassan Shehab had six. Mahmoud Al Jawher scored four goals and Mahdi had three. Al Zaimour paced Najma in the loss with eight goals while Ahmed had six and both Fadhul and Hasan Madan finished with four apiece.
Meanwhile, in Ahli’s tight win, Ali Eid scored from just inside nine metres to break a 4-all deadlock early in the contest and they stayed in front for the remainder of the period. Ahli later made it 18-15 with goals from Ali Mirza, Abdulla Ali, and Ahmed Eid heading into the locker rooms.
In the second half, Ahli started things off by defending their lead, but Shabab roared back, with Jassim Khamis tying it at 21-apiece and then Ahmed Kadhem firing in from the free-throw line to put them in front.
Ahli responded, however, with successive strikes from Qassim Qambar and Sayed Ahmed Faiq, and they held on to their advantage until the end – despite Shabab’s best efforts to keep things close. A goal from Ali from beyond nine metres with just a minute-and-a-half to play made it 33-30 and virtually sealed Ahli’s triumph.
Ali Eid finished as the victors’ leading scorer with eight goals, while Mirza and Ali chipped in with five apiece.
Khamis and Kadhem – fresh from helping Bahrain’s senior men’s national team capture the gold medals at the fourth GCC Games last week – led Shabab in the loss with nine and seven goals, respectively.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))