Bahrain set sights on handball worlds

TDT | Manama       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A 23-player squad has been named on the senior men’s national handball team for their latest training camp ahead of the start of their preparations for the 28th International Handball Federation (IHF) Men’s Handball World Championship.

The tournament is set to be held from January 11 to 19 next year with matches being held across nine cities in Poland and Sweden. Icelandic head coach Aron Kristjansson is returning as head coach for the nationals.

He was scheduled to arrive yesterday. The team includes many of the Kingdom’s international mainstays, spearheaded by long-time captain Hussain Al Sayyad. The other veteran names who have plenty of experience in international play, including past world championships, are Mohammed Abdulhussain, Ali Mirza, Ali Eid, Ahmed Al Maqabi, Hassan Al Samaheeji, Mohammed Mirza, Komail Mahfoodh and Jassim Al Salatna.

The rest of the squad consists of Qassem Qamber, Hassan Shehab, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Abdulla Ali, Hassan Mirza, Belal Basham, Mahmood Hussain, Ahmed Jalal, Hassan Madan, Ali Bassem, Abdulla Al Zaimour, Mohammed Hameed, Hisham Ahmed and Muntadher Ibrahim.

The nationals are in Group H for the tournament’s first round alongside Denmark, Belgium and Tunisia. Thirty-two nations from all across the globe, representing five confederations, are taking part. They have been divided into eight groups for the tournament’s preliminary stage.

The Bahrainis are one of five countries from Asia. They qualified as the runners-up from the continental championship held earlier this year. In Bahrain’s group, Denmark are the heavy favourites, being the defending world champions, while Belgium are making their first-ever appearance at the worlds.

Next year’s world championship will see the top three teams from each of the eight groups move on to the main round, where they will be divided into four further groups of six teams apiece.

The other eight squads will vie for the President’s Cup. The upcoming worlds will mark Bahrain’s fifth appearance—and fourth straight—at the IHF’s premier event. The nationals had previously also played in the 2011, 2017, 2019 and 2021 editions.