Al Najma keep semis hopes alive

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain and Asian clubs’ champions Al Najma Club yesterday kept their hopes alive of advancing to the semi-finals in the prestigious IHF Men’s Super Globe, being held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Najma outclassed the San Francisco Calheat from the US 29-22 to claim their first win in Group D of the competition’s preliminary round.

They had previously lost by a single goal to Barlinek Industria Kielce of Poland in their first game on Tuesday, but are now in the hunt for a spot in the last four.

They moved to temporary first place on the pool standings with one game to go between the Calheat and Barlinek Industria Kielce.

That is scheduled to take place today at 12.15pm, Bahrain time, and it will determine the final ranking in Group D.

Only the top team in each of the four preliminary round pools move on to the semis.

The runners-up go to the fifth-to-eighth place bracket, while the bottom clubs will play in the ninth-to12th placement games to determine their overall classification.

Najma and the Calheat were engaged in a tight battle in the first half yesterday, with the Bahrainis going ahead by no more than three.

They took a 12-9 advantage into the break. In the final 30 minutes, Najma went on an 8-3 scoring run to go up 20-12, and they never looked back.

Their biggest gap from the Calheat was 10 goals, 29-19, when Mahdi Saad converted on a fast-break.

Mohammed Habib Ahmed finished as Najma’s leading scorer with nine goals.

He was later named the Player of the Match. Saad added six, while Hasan Mirza scored five goals.

Belal Basham chipped in with four, while Hassan Madan, Mohammed Ali Abdulredha, Mujtaba Al Zaimour, Saud Al Junaid and Sayed Ali Shubbar all finished with a goal each.

For the Calheat, Felx Raff had seven goals while Benjamin Geisser added four in the losing effort.

Najma are participating in the IHF Super Globe for the second time, following the 2018 edition when they finished seventh.

The global competition, organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF), is in its 16th year.