Najma storm into Gulf clubs handball semis

TDT | Manama        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

Bahrain champions Al Najma defeated Al Salmiya of Kuwait 34-30 last night to barge into the semi-finals as Group B winners in the 38th Gulf Clubs Men’s Handball Championship, being played in Kuwait.

It was the second successive victory for Najma in as many games in the competition’s preliminary round. They had previously outclassed Mudhar of Saudi Arabia 33-28 in their opener.

The Bahrainis built on their momentum in their impressive win over the Kuwaitis, in which they led 15-13 at the end of the first half. Following the contest, Mohammed Habib Naser was named the Best Player of the Game by officials, and he received a commemorative award in a ceremony.

Najma now move on to the final four, where they will face the runners-up of Group A, which features Al Kuwait SC of Kuwait, Al Ahly of Qatar, Al Jazeera of the UAE and Muscat of Oman.

The top spot is being contested between Kuwait and Ahly. The semi-finals are scheduled to be held tomorrow. Mudhar have also advanced from Group B along with Najma. Also playing key roles for Najma last night were long-time Bahrain national team captain Hussain Al Sayyad, the French international pairing of brothers Olivier Nyokas and Alix Kevynn Nyokas, goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain, Hassan Shehab, Bilal Basham, Mahdi Saad, Komail Mahfoodh and Mohammed Mirza, to name a few.