BAHRAIN booked their ticket to the semi-finals of the 18th Asian Men’s Handball Championship yesterday following a 29-21 victory over Japan in their final main round match in Suwon, South Korea.
The game was tied at 13-apiece at the end of the first-half before Bahrain rallied in the final 30 minutes to claim a hard-earned win.
Mahdi Saad spearheaded the Bahrainis scoring nine goals while Ali Abdulqader added seven.
Mohamed Habib chipped in with five, while Ali Mirza, Hasan Al Fardan and Mohamed Abdulredha had two goals apiece. Hussain Al Sayyad and Madan rounded out the scoring with one goal each.
Jin Watanabe and Yuto Agarie finished with six goals each for Japan.
With the result, the Bahrainis also secured a spot in the 2019 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship.
The Asian competition acts as a continental qualifier for the Worlds, and all four semi-finalists go through to next year’s finals, to be held in Denmark and Germany.
Bahrain have secured their third appearance in the Worlds, having earlier qualified for the 2011 and 2017 competitions.
In the final four, Gudmundur Gudmundsson-coached Bahrain are scheduled to meet Saudi Arabia while defending champions Qatar take on South Korea.
Saudi Arabia defeated the hosts 26-23 yesterday to take the number one spot in Group One of the main round, ahead of the Koreans. The Qataris finished atop of Group Two, ahead of Bahrain after beating the UAE 34-20.
Iran beat Oman 40-25 in the other Group One fixture, but it had no bearing on the semi-finals as both teams had already been eliminated.
The Bahrainis are looking to secure their maiden Asian title, having finished as silver-medallists in the last two editions in 2014 and 2016.
There will also be a few consolation matches tomorrow, following yesterday’s other results where China beat Australia 26-16 and Uzbekistan edged past India 29-27.
His Majesty the King’s representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports (SCYS) chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa praised Bahrain team for qualfying for the world championship.
SCYS first deputy chairman and Bahrain Athletics Association president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa also congratulated the Bahrain team.
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