Bahrain aim for handball gold at Gulf Games

TDT | Manama  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national handball team have named a 26-player training squad for their final preparations ahead of the upcoming Gulf Games, taking place later this month in Kuwait.

The multi-sport event is scheduled to be held between May 13 and 31, with the handball competition slated for the 25th to the concluding day of action on the 31st.

The nationals have formed their roster that is currently gearing up for their gold medal bid. It will be trimmed to a final list that will compete in the handball tournament. The team that is training under Bahraini coach Alasani Anaki includes overseas-based professionals Mohammed Habib, Ahmed Al Maqabi and Ali Abdulqader.

Local league stars make up the rest of the squad, including Mohammed Abdulhussain, Hassan Shehab, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Ali Eid and Mahdi Saad from national champions Al Najma; Jassim Salatna, Abdulla Ali, Hassan Madan, Hussain Al Qatari, Abdulla Radhi, Mahmood Hussain from Al Ahli; Qassem Al Shuwaikh and Qassem Qambar from Barbar; Hassan Mirza from Tadhamon; Ahmed Jalal, Abdulla Al Zaimour, Mujtaba Al Zaimour and Jassim Khamis from Al Shabab; Mohammed Hameed and Ali Mahmood from Al Ettifaq; and Hisham Ahmed, Ali Al Asheri and Hussain Abdulla from Al Dair.

Three big names currently do not feature on the roster, including veteran skipper Hussain Al Sayyad, and long-time internationals Mohammed Mirza and Ali Mirza. Bahrain are set to play four matches in the Gulf Games’ handball competition, which will feature five GCC teams namely Saudi Arabia, the UAE, hosts Kuwait and Qatar.

Oman are not taking part in the handball event. The nationals get their tournament campaign underway on May 25 against Kuwait, before taking on the UAE and Saudi Arabia on successive nights on the 28th and 29th.

Their final match will then be against Qatar on May 31. Bahrain will be hoping to repeat their success from the 2011 edition of the Gulf Games when they won the handball title with an unbeaten record in five matches.

Saudi then won in the 2015 competition, with Bahrain finishing as the silver-medallists. Handball is one of 16 sports Bahrain will be participating in at the Gulf Games. The others are basketball, volleyball, judo, karate, fencing, archery, tennis, cycling, swimming, ice hockey, Esports, table tennis, padel, futsal and athletics.

Bahrain Olympic Committee vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa is set to be the delegation head in Kuwait. HH Shaikh Isa has been visiting the various athletes during their local training sessions to follow up on their preparations for the event.