HANDBALL – BAHRAIN defeated hosts China 35-27 yesterday to wrap up their preliminary round campaign in the 19th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, currently being played in the Chinese city of Chuzhou.
The kingdom’s squad overcame an early deficit and used a game-changing 9-3 run to end the opening half and take full control of the contest. They never looked back from there, going ahead by as many as 11 goals in the concluding 30 minutes.
The Bahrainis had already secured their spot in the tournament’s quarter-finals heading into yesterday’s contest, but the result earned them second place on the Group A table ahead of China, having won four of their five outings.
The nationals will now face Group B third-placers Iran in tomorrow’s elite eight. The game is scheduled for a 7am start, Bahrain time.
The other quarters fixtures will see the UAE take on hosts China, Saudi Arabia battle Kuwait, and South Korea go up against Chinese Taipei.
In other games yesterday’s in the first phase’s final day, the Saudis routed Hong Kong 46-11 and Chinese Taipei outplayed Oman 41-26 in Group A; while in Group B, the UAE eked past Kuwait 29-28, Qatar outclassed India 50-26, and South Korea upset two-time defending champions Japan 28-26.
The Japanese were stunned as they dropped out of further title contention.
Tomorrow’s quarter-finals will be followed by the semis on Saturday, which will then set the match-ups for the gold and bronze medal games on the championship’s closing day on Monday. 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 semis participants will book their berths in the worlds.
In Bahrain’s win yesterday, the nationals fell into a 5-9 hole heading into the first half’s midway point, but they roared back before the break. After Qin Kang gave the home team a slim 10-9 edge, Sayed Majeed Almuhafda fired in to equalise and his goal sparked their decisive 9-3 surge.
Al Muhafda was on target once again at the end of that rally, giving the nationals an 18-12 lead heading into the locker rooms.
The Bahrainis then rode their momentum into the second half and back-to-back Ahmed Alsamaheeji conversions gave them their biggest advantage of 11 for the first time at 29-18 with just under a quarter-hour remaining. China got no closer than Bahrain’s eight-goal final winning margin the rest of the way.
Abuthar Yateem finished as the nationals’ leading scorer with five goals. He was later named Player of the Match and received an award for his efforts, presented to him by Bahrain Olympic Committee board member and Bahrain Handball Federation president Ali Issa Eshaqi.
Almuhafda, Sayed Ahmed Alfalahi, and Mahmood Yusuf chipped in with four goals apiece, while three others added three including Abbas Ali, Ahmed Eid, and Ahmed Abdulla.
Wei Jinshuo paced the Chinese with seven goals while Lu Quandong added five in defeat.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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