Bahrain qualify for youth handball worlds

TDT | Manama                                                                           

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain closed out their campaign in the ninth Asian Men’s Youth (U19) Handball Championship last night in style. The home team clinched fifth place overall on the tournament’s final classification and thus also claimed the last continental berth for the 2023 Men’s Youth World Handball Championship.

The Bahrainis secured their ranking after defeating Kuwait 27-21 in the match for fifth place, which took place at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town. Only the top five teams from this competition being hosted by the Kingdom book their tickets to the worlds.

The Bahrainis are joining fellow-Asian sides South Korea, Iran, Japan and Saudi Arabia at next year’s global showcase. Bahrain Olympic Committee vice-president His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa was on hand, along with Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) president Ali Issa.

Also yesterday, Qatar claimed seventh place on the competition’s final ranking after edging past Uzbekistan 29-28 on penalty throws. Today is the final day of the tournament, which was organised by the BHA in cooperation with the Asian Handball Federation.

The gold and bronze medal games will be held this evening, beginning with the match for third place between Japan and Saudi Arabia at 4pm, to be followed by the final between South Korea and Iran at 6pm.

All are welcome to attend. Entrance is free of charge. In Bahrain’s victory last night, the hosts pulled away from their rivals late in the first half, turning a slim 7-6 lead to a 14-10 advantage heading into the locker rooms.

Jaffar Farsan was in impressive form in the opening period, already scoring seven of his team-high nine goals in the match. After the break, Kuwait tried to get back into the contest but got no closer than three goals the rest of the way.

An Alrashi Ebraheem goal got Kuwait to within 21-24 with just over five minutes to play, but that was the last time they would find the net and Bahrain fired in three unanswered goals in the closing moments.

Mohammed Abdulla chipped in with seven goals in the win, while Ali Mohamed scored four and Ahmed Fardan had three. For Kuwait, Almutawa Husain was their leading scorer with six goals, while Ebraheem and Abdullah Ahmad both contributed three goals.

Farsan was later named the player of the match. In Qatar’s win, they led 13-11 at the half but the Uzbeks were able to tie the match at 26-all at the end of regulation. The contest went directly into penalties and Qatar’s Osama Mousa, Muhammad Raza and Malek Soussou were all on target, whereas Uzbekistan could only manage to score twice through Davron Bozorboev and Razhabb Sharibov.

In tonight’s final, South Korea will be hoping to claim their third title in the history of the competition, while Iran will be aiming for their second crown. The South Koreans previously won in 2005 and 2014, while the Iranians clinched their title in 2006.