HANDBALL – Bahrain bagged an historic first-ever men’s handball gold medal yesterday at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The kingdom’s senior men’s handball national team ended their decades-long wait with a hard-earned 33-32 triumph over bitter rivals Qatar in yesterday’s thrilling final, played at Entrio sports arena.
The Qataris entered this year’s Asiad as three-time defending champions and had beaten Bahrain in the men’s handball final of the previous two editions.
But inspired by veteran skipper Hussain Al Sayyad – and behind the strong play of Bahrain’s young but supremely talented supporting cast of Ahmed Fadul, Ahmed Kadhem, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Hasan Madan, and Jassim Khamis – the nationals finally got over the hump to bring the kingdom’s medal tally in Aichi-Nagoya to an impressive 19 medals, including 11 gold.
The Bahrainis used a resounding 5-2 run to pull away from their rivals. Kadhem sparked that surge while Nasser wrapped it up from nine metres to give the nationals a 30-26 lead with only seven minutes to play.
And after Qatar made a late final push to get to within one, 31-32, following conversions by captain Ahmad Madadi and Abdelrahman Abdalla, Fadhul sealed the win with a goal from the right wing and only four seconds left on the game clock.
Madadi scored again at the buzzer but the gold was already secured, signalling the start of Bahrain’s wild celebrations on the court.
In attendance during yesterday’s final were Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president and the kingdom’s delegation head in Aichi-Nagoya Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, BOC board member and Bahrain Handball Federation president Ali Issa Eshaqi, BOC executive director of operations and Bahrain’s chef de mission Ahmed Abdulghaffar, and other delegation officials.
Fadhul and Kadhem finished as the Bahrainis’ leading scorers with seven goals apiece, while Nasser chipped in five, and both Madan and Al Sayyad scored four apiece. Khamis contributed two goals in the win.
Madadi had a game-high 10 goals for the Qataris, while Frankis Marzo scored five in the loss.
Bahrain’s maiden men’s handball gold added to their silver medals from the Asian Games’ 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia, and then again in the 2022 Asiad in Hangzhou, China. The nationals were also bronze-medallists in the 2014 tournament in Incheon, South Korea.
Their first-ever Asian Games title triumph continued the outstanding record of Swedish head coach Robert Hedin with the senior men’s squad. He had also helped guide the Bahrainis to their maiden crown in the Asian Men’s Handball Championship, held in Kuwait City, Kuwait in January of this year, and also authored Bahrain’s gold medal triumphs at the fourth GCC Games in Doha, Qatar last May, as well as at the sixth Islamic Solidarity Games in November of last year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Joining Bahrain and Qatar on the men’s handball podium were hosts Japan, who defeated South Korea 37-32 in yesterday’s game for third place.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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