HANDBALL – Bahrain will battle Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia today for the bronze medals in the 19th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, currently being played in Chuzhou, China.
The kingdom’s junior men’s handball national team will be looking to make a positive ending to the continental competition, where they also booked a berth in next year’s 26th IHF Men’s U21 Handball World Championship, to be held in North Macedonia.
The Bahrainis are in the game for third place after losing to South Korea 31-32 in a thrilling and hotly contested semi-final clash, while the Saudis narrowly lost to the UAE 30-31.
Their contest today is scheduled for 11am, and it will be followed by the gold medal affair at 1pm. Both times are Bahrain.
Bahrain’s meeting with Saudi is a re-match of the bronze medal game from the previous Asian junior championship held in Amman, Jordan, in 2024, when the Bahrainis won 28-25.
They will be playing for their third bronze medals in the history of the competition, adding to those in 2018 and 2024.
Bahrain also won the title in 1998 and also finished as silver-medallists twice in 1994 and 2022.
South Korea are aiming to strike gold for the fourth time.
They previous title triumphs were in 1988, 1992, and 2018.
The UAE, on the other hand, are aiming for their second crown, having captured the championship in 1996.
The South Koreans were also silver-medallists in Amman.
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