HANDBALL – Bahrain made a rousing start to their gold medal bid last night in the 11th Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship, which got underway in Amman, Jordan.
The kingdom’s youth men’s handball national team, who are two-time former champions in the under-19 Asian Handball Federation (AHF) tournament, routed their counterparts from India 51-20 at Princess Sumaya Hall at the Jordanian capital.
The Bahrainis were in a class of their own in the Group A contest, which was their first of four in the preliminary round of the 10-nation event.
They led 22-10 at the half and then raised the pressure on their opponents in the closing 30 minutes.
Bahrain left-winger Mohammed Marzooq was named Man of the Match and was presented with an award post-game for his performance.
The result earned the nationals first place on their division table ahead of South Korea on goal difference.
The South Koreans were also triumphant in yesterday’s other Group A fixture, beating Uzbekistan 47-19.
In Group B, Kuwait ousted Syria 29-19 and Qatar beat Saudi Arabia 30-22.
This year’s Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship also serves as qualification for the 12th IHF Men’s Youth Handball World Championship.
The top four will secure their places as AHF representatives in the worlds, which take place July 29 to August 9 in 2027.
Bahrain are back in action today at the same venue against the host Jordanians at 8pm.
The nationals then lock horns with Uzbekistan on Sunday at 12noon, before playing their concluding fixture of this phase against South Korea on Wednesday next week at 4pm. All times are Bahrain.
Following a single round-robin, the top four from each pool march through to the quarter-finals, which will be held next Friday.
The semis are then scheduled for the following evening, setting the stage for the gold and bronze medal games on August 31.
Classification contests will also be held on the tournament’s concluding days.
In Bahrain’s win last night, they took a quick 5-0 lead and after India found their groove to cut the deficit to 9-13, the nationals closed the first half strong, firing nine of the period’s 10 other conversions for their 12-goal cushion at the interval.
After the re-start, the Bahrainis continued their onslaught and they never let up the rest of the way.
Playmaker Wadee Hasan fired in their last goal on a fastbreak, earning them their biggest lead of the night of 31 as well as their final winning margin.
Right back Mahdi Ali top scored for Bahrain with 12 goals, while Marzooq chipped in with 10.
Right-winger Mahmood Ahmed added nine goals, while Hasan and Issa Al Babour, also a right-winger, chipped in with four apiece.
Praveen Sihag paced India with nine goals while Partha Protim Gogoi had five in the loss.
The Bahrainis are competing in this year’s Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship for the 10th time.
They were continental champions on back-to-back occasions in 2016 and in 2018, while they also took the bronze medals in 2010.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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