Bahrain miss out on bronze

Bahrain missed out on the bronze medals yesterday in the 2020 Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait, following a narrow 26-27 loss to Japan in the game for third place.

The Bahrainis were leading 15-14 at the half but then lost control of the tightly contested affair in the final 30-minute period.

The result put them in fourth place overall to finish the 13- team tournament. The Japanese claimed the bronze medals, while Qatar clinched the gold after defeating South Korea 33- 21 in last night’s final.

The Qataris won their fourth successive Asian title.

Bahrain Handball Association president Ali Issa was on hand at yesterday’s games at Shaikh Saad Al Abdullah Sports Hall Complex in Kuwait City.

Bahrain’s fourth-place finish was their lowest in the last four editions of the competition.

The Bahrainis were silver-medallists three straight times, including in the 2014, 2016 and 2018 events, when they lost to Qatar each time.

Despite the defeat, Bahrain are not coming home from the competition empty handed, as they earned qualification for the 2021 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, taking place next January in Egypt. The Bahrainis, Japan, South Korea and Qatar are set to be the four Asian representatives at the worlds.

Bahrain, coached by former Iceland international Aron Kristjansson, competed in the tournament with a team that included Hussain Mahfoodh, Ali Eid, Ali Mirza, Hassan Alsamahiji, Mohammed Abdulredha, Ahmed Fadhul, Mohammed Mirza, Mohammed Ali, Bilal Askani, Abdulla Alzaimoor, Ahmed Almaqabi, Jassim Alsalatna, Hassan Al Fardan, Mahdi Saad, Mohammed Habib and team captain Hussain Al Sayyad.

Following their participation in the Asian championship, the Bahrainis are expected to have a short period of rest before getting back to work in preparation for their historic first-ever appearance at the Summer Olympic Games.

They will have qualified for the men’s handball competition at this year’s Tokyo Olympiad, which is set to take place from July 24 to August 9.

Bahrain and Olympic hosts Japan are so far the only two Asian teams in the event. Others who have already qualified are Denmark, Argentina, Spain and Egypt, while another six spots are still up for the taking, and they will be determined in April.