Bahrain, Japan claim dominant wins
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain and Japan enjoyed rousing starts to their respective campaigns yesterday in the 17th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, which got underway in Bahrain at the Khalifa Sports City arena in Isa Town.
The Bahrainis shrugged off a slow start to defeat Pakistan 51-26 in last night’s late fixture, which followed a dominant 49- 11 victory for the Japanese in yesterday’s early game against India. Both matches kicked off action in Group B in the competition’s preliminary round.
In attendance at yesterday’s first day were Bahrain Olympic Committee women’s committee head Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, General Sports Authority CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar, Bahrain Handball Association president Ali Isa, and other high-ranking officials.
The Bahrainis are back in action tomorrow when they lock horns with their Indian counterparts at 6.30pm, while the Japanese take on their Pakistani opponents at 4pm at the same venue. All are welcome to attend and support their respective national teams.
Entrance is free of charge. Bahrain and Japan are among the favourites to medal in the tournament, and they lived up to their tags in their first assignments. In Bahrain’s triumph, the home team had a slow start and needed to shake off some early jitters. They fell behind 1-4 and the Indians were able to edge ahead 6-4.
But the hosts eventually found their groove and strung together 10 unanswered goals to go ahead 14-6, and they never looked back from there. The Bahrainis powered ahead 27-13 at the interval and then rode their momentum into the second half. Abdulla Ali finished as the team’s top scorer with 10 goals in the win, while Hasan Kadhem added nine, with Mohamed Rabia, Komail Ali and Jasim Khamis all finishing with five apiece.
Thirteen players made it onto the scoresheet for Bahrain. Muhammad Tayyab paced Pakistan with seven goals in the loss. At the end of play, Bahrain’s Kadhem was selected as the Best Player of the Match, and received an award from Shaikha Hayat.
In Japan’s win, they were in control from the very start, racing out to a 10-0 lead while holding India scoreless for the opening 14 minutes. They took a commanding 25-6 advantage into the break, and then continued to cruise in the second half en route to the final 38-goal margin. Naoki Fujisaka was their top scorer with eight goals, while Tetta Otake, Ryoya Nakajima, and Shunsuke Arai each chipped in with six.
Soa Irei and Alexander Kondo had four goals apiece in the win. Sehdev was the top scorer for India, who had only five players make it onto the score sheet. Following the game, Nakajima was named the Best Player of the Match and was awarded with a prize. Today, play in Group A gets underway. At 4pm, Saudi Arabia take on Iran, followed at 6.30pm by defending champions South Korea facing Kuwait.
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