BAHRAIN powered past Saudi Arabia 24-22 yesterday to advance to the gold medal game in the 18th Asian Men’s Handball Championship being played in Suwon, South Korea.
After a tight first half that ended in an 11-all deadlock, the Bahrainis did just enough in the final 30 minutes to secure the victory and keep their hopes alive of a maiden continental title.
Mahmood Abdulqader led a balanced attack for the victors. The national team star scored four goals in the game.
Four players finished with three goals apiece, including Hasan Al Fardan, Mohamed Al Maqabi, Mohamed Habib and Hussain Al Sayyad.
Leading Saudi were Hussain Al Mohsin with eight goals and Ahmad Al Abdulali with five.
With the result, the Bahrainis march on to the tournament final where they will face defending champions Qatar. It will be a mouth-watering re-match of the title game from the last two Asian championships in 2014 and 2016.
The Qataris have been dominant so far in this year’s competition. They ensured their return to the finale following a 32-21 triumph over hosts South Korea in yesterday’s other semi-final.
Unbeaten
Qatar remained the only unbeaten team in the championship and they will be looking to secure a third successive championship.
The gold medal game is scheduled for tomorrow, to be played after the bronze medal match.
Bahrain are appearing in the final for the tournament’s third successive edition and fourth overall.
An Asian title would be a glorious achievement for the national team and Icelandic head coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson, who guided Denmark to the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Meanwhile, in the final consolation games played yesterday, Iran beat Japan 33-28, the UAE defeated Oman 28-24, China outclassed Uzbekistan 32-21, Australia edged past India 27-24, and Bangladesh defeated New Zealand 31-24.
Those results helped determine the final classification for teams fifth through 14th. The ranking, in that order, is Iran, Japan, the UAE, Oman, China, Uzbekistan, Australia, India, Bangladesh, and New Zealand.
The Asian championship also acts as the continental qualifiers for the 2019 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, which is to be played next January in Denmark and Germany. All four semi-finalists, including Bahrain, have booked their tickets to the event representing Asia.
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