South Korea are Asian U19 handball champs!

TDT | Manama                                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

South Korea were last night crowned champions of the ninth Asian Men’s Youth (U19) Handball Championship, which was hosted by Bahrain.

The South Koreans clinched the title after defeating Iran 26- 22 in the final, held at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town. With the result, the victors claimed a record third title in the history of the competition, adding to their previous wins in the 2005 and 2014 editions.

For Iran, it was their second silver medal. Their previous runner-up finish also came against South Korea in 2005. Meanwhile, capturing the bronze medals were Saudi Arabia, who edged past Japan 26-25 in the game for third place.

It marked the Saudis’ first-ever appearance on the podium in the tournament. Following the final, the top three were given their respective trophies in an awards presentation and closing ceremony.

In attendance to hand out the trophies and medals were Bahrain Olympic Committee member and Bahrain Table Tennis Association president Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa and Bahrain Handball Association president Ali Issa.

Aside from the team awards, accolades were also handed out to the top individual players from the competition. Eight received distinctions from their play, including Bahraini player Jaffar Farsan, who won the award for Best Left-Back.

In last night’s final, the South Koreans got off to a strong start and held a 14-11 lead heading into the locker rooms. They then did enough in the final 30 minutes of the game to close out the win and the championship.

In Saudi’s narrow win over Japan, Sajjad Alfardan scored the winning goal with just under two minutes to play to complete a remarkable late comeback for his team. The Saudis trailed 12-13 at the break and remained behind for much of the half.

They faced a deficit of 16-21 with 20 minutes to play in the contest, but then finished strong. They clawed back to tie the game at 24-all behind an Alfardan goal, and then took the lead after Maitham Abusarer scored.

Masak Sakai levelled things one last time moments later, setting the stage for Alfardan’s end-game heroics. Ahmed Alsaeed was the leading scorer for the Saudis with five goals, and he was later named the best player of the match.

Alfardan, Abusarer and Hussain Furaij contributed four goals apiece, while Sakai top scored for Japan in their loss with eight goals.