HANDBALL – BAHRAIN punched their tickets yesterday to the quarter-finals of the 19th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, currently being played in Chuzhou, China.
The kingdom’s squad secured their place after powering to an impressive 33-23 victory over Gulf rivals Oman in their penultimate Group A preliminary round fixture, held at Chuzhou International Handball Arena.
The Bahrainis held a slim 15-13 lead at the half but pulled away over the concluding 30 minutes. Their final winning margin of 10 goals was also the biggest gap in the contest.
With the result, the nationals claimed their third win in four outings with just one game remaining in this stage. That will be tomorrow against hosts China, who are also set to advance to the elite eight. Their clash is scheduled for a 1pm start, Bahrain time.
The Chinese bowed to unbeaten Group A leaders Saudi Arabia 30-35 yesterday, while in another divisional clash, Chinese Taipei beat Hong Kong 38-16. In Group B yesterday, the UAE routed India 52-21, Japan edged past Iran 28-27, and undefeated leaders South Korea beat Kuwait 34-28.
At the end of this single round-robin, the top four teams from each pool march through to the quarters, which are scheduled for Friday. The semi-finals will then be held on Saturday, setting the match-ups for the gold and bronze medal games on the championship’s concluding day on Monday next week.
Classification contests are also slated on the last two days of the knockouts.
The Asian championship also acts as the continental qualifier for the 26th IHF Men’s U21 Handball World Championship, to be held from June 23 to July 4 next year in North Macedonia. All four semi-finallists will book their berths in the worlds.
In Bahrain’s win yesterday, goals from Sayed Ahmed Alfalahi and Mohammed Aadam right before the break gave the nationals their slim 15-13 edge heading into the locker rooms.
After the re-start, the Bahrainis went on a game-changing 12-5 run to take full control, and they rode their momentum to the final buzzer. Aadam converted from six metres with seconds remaining to peg the final score.
Ahmed Eid was Bahrain’s leading scorer with eight goals, and he was later named Player of the Match. Eid received an award for his effort.
Three others chipped in with four goals each, including Aadam, Ahmed Alsamaheeji, and Ahmed Abdulla, while Abbas Ali and Abuthar Yateem added three apiece.
Almamoon Al Hasani paced Oman with 11 goals in the loss, while Mohammed Al Hasani scored five.
Yesterday’s result followed Bahrain’s wins against Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, with their lone loss so far coming against the Saudis.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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