HANDBALL – BAHRAIN came away with the silver medals last night in the 11th Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship, which wrapped up in Amman, Jordan.
The kingdom’s youth men’s handball national team had to settle for the tournament’s runner-up spot after going down fighting to Gulf rivals Qatar 24-28 in the gold medal game, played at Princess Sumaya Hall in the Jordanian capital.
The nationals fell behind in the opening half and despite a brave effort in the final 30 minutes, could not erase the deficit and complete a comeback for the win.
With the result, the Bahrainis claimed silver for the first time in the history of the Asian Handball Federation’s (AHF) under-19 competition. They had struck gold twice in the past in 2016 and 2018, and also won bronze in 2010.
Qatar, on the other hand, captured the title for the third time. Their previous championship triumphs were in 2010 and 2012.
Joining Bahrain and Qatar on the podium yesterday were South Korea, who edged past Iran 29-28 in the bronze medal contest. Jiseong Seong was named the Man of the Match for the winners. He fired in the winning goal into the bottom-right corner of the net as time expired.
The continent’s leading trio were awarded their respective medals and trophies after last night’s final by officials from the AHF and the Jordan Handball Federation.
Also in attendance were Bahrain Olympic Committee board member and Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) president Ali Issa Eshaqi, who is also an AHF vice-president, and BHF national teams director and Bahrain’s delegation head in Amman Ismael Baqer.
A number of individual awards were handed out to the tournament’s top performers. Two of Bahrain’s best in Amman were selected, including Ahmed Abdulla who was named best centre back and Mohammed Marzooq who was honoured as the best left wing.
All four top-placed nations also came away from Amman with berths in the 12th IHF Men’s Youth Handball World Championship, scheduled to be held July 29 to August 9 in 2027 at a to-be-confirmed host nation. The Bahrainis qualified for the youth worlds for the seventh time, including for its fifth straight edition.
In yesterday’s title clash, the Bahrainis, coached by Egyptian tactician Mohamed Abdelrahman Soliman, fell behind 4-11 early on and headed into the break trailing 10-16. But they fought back valiantly in the second half and got to within three goals, however could not come any closer.
The Bahrainis faced difficulty in cracking the formidable Qatari defence, anchored by their in-form goalkeeper Omar Elsayed, who made several stops, particularly down the stretch to help his side come away with the hard-earned result.
Elsayed was later named the tournament’s best goalkeeper.
Five players shared the tag of joint-top scorers for Bahrain last night with three goals apiece, namely Abdulla, Wadee Hasan, Sayed Omran Almahafdha, Mahdi Ali, and Ali Hasan. Marzooq, Sayed Majeed Almuhafda, and Hasan Saif chipped in with two goals each, while completing the players who found the net were Hussain Abadi, Mahmood Ahmed, and Sayed Ali Ebrahim, who had a goal apiece.
Youssef Elgaabary had eight goals to pace the Qataris, while the championship’s Most Valuable Player Moaaz Saber and teammate Abdallah Hassan added five each.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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