HH Shaikh Isa visits Bahrain junior handball team

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa paid a visit to the Kingdom’s junior national handball team during their training at the Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) arena in Um Al Hassam. The nationals are gearing up for the 17th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, which gets underway tomorrow in the Kingdom and continues until July 24.

HH Shaikh Isa’s visit was in implementation of the directives of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority president and BOC chief His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. HH Shaikh Isa was accompanied by BOC secretary general Faris Al Kooheji, BHA president Ali Issa, and a number of BHA board members. They watched a friendly match played between Bahrain and Iran, which the hosts won 32-24.

Bahrain head to the competition with an 18-player roster that includes Hisham Ahmed Issa, Ali Jamil Mirza, Ali Ahmed Al Madani, Ali Radhi Al Ashiri, Ahmed Abdulameer Al Zain, Mahmood Basem Al Khunaizi, Hassan Khalil Ali, Kamil Fouad, Mohammed Hameed Rabie, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Ahmed Redha Salem, Ahmed Hussain Alwani, Hussain Ali Saleh, Jassim Ali Khamis, Mustafa Issa Al Hayki, Ali Mahmood Mohammed, Jaafar Abdulshaheed and Ali Abdulkarim Mohammed.

They are coached by Bahraini tactician Adel Al Sabea. There are eight nations in all taking part. Bahrain are in Group B alongside Japan, India and Pakistan. Group A consists of South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait. The Bahrainis begin their championship bid against their Pakistani counterparts tomorrow night.

They then take on India on Sunday, before facing off with Japan on Tuesday next week. The Bahrainis have won the Asian title once in the past in 1998 when the event was also held in the Kingdom.

All games are scheduled to be held at the Khalifa Sports City arena in Isa Town. The Asian junior competition acts as a qualification event for the International Handball Federation (IHF) Men’s Junior World Championship, with the top four teams directly qualifying.