HANDBALL – BAHRAIN wrapped up their preliminary round campaign yesterday with an undefeated Group A record in the 11th Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship, currently being played in Amman, Jordan.
The kingdom’s youth men’s handball national team, who are two-time champions in the under-19 tournament, outclassed their counterparts from South Korea 35-27 at Princess Sumaya Hall in the Jordanian capital.
Bahrain’s Ahmed Abdulla was named the Man of the Match after leading all scorers with eight goals. He was later presented with an award post-game for his efforts.
Both sides had already booked their berths in the competition’s quarter-finals heading into yesterday’s affair, with only the top spot in their pool to play for.
That was eventually secured by the Bahrainis with the result, and they will now face off with Group B fourth-placers Saudi Arabia in the elite eight tomorrow. Their game is scheduled for a 6pm start, Bahrain time, at the same venue.
In the other quarters games, South Korea take on Kuwait at 2pm, Iran face Uzbekistan at 4pm, and Group B winners Qatar clash with hosts Jordan at 8pm.
The preliminaries were completed yesterday, with the Uzbeks beating the Jordanians 42-32 in the other Group A battle, while in Group B, Iran defeated Syria 45-30 and Kuwait edged past Saudi 30-28.
The winners in tomorrow’s last eight will march through to the semi-finals slated for Saturday evening. That will then set the stage for the gold and bronze medal games on Monday next week. Classification clashes will also be held on the championship’s concluding days.
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 in the worlds, which take place July 29 to August 9 in 2027.
In Bahrain’s triumph yesterday, after falling behind 8-9 following a goal by South Korea’s Junseok Oh, the nationals closed the opening half strong and used a game-changing 7-2 rally – sparked by three unanswered strikes by Sayed Omran Almuhafdha, Abdulla, and Ali Hasan – to head into the interval with a 15-11 lead.
The Bahrainis continued their strong play after the re-start, never allowing their opponents back into the contest and staying in front by at least five goals. They enjoyed their biggest cushion of the evening of 10 at 34-24 following a Wadee Hasan effort with just three minutes remaining on the game clock.
Mahdi Ali contributed five goals for Bahrain in their win, while five teammates chipped in with three goals apiece, including Almuhafdha, Ali Hasan, Wadee Hasan, Hussain Abadi, and Sayed Ali Ebrahim.
Inseok Park paced South Korea with seven goals in the loss, while Jiseong Seong contributed five.
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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