Bahrain set up Saudi, Belarus handball friendlies

TDT | Manama                  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

Bahrain’s senior men’s national handball team have lined up international friendly matches at home against Saudi Arabia and Belarus next month, as part of their preparations for the 28th International Handball Federation (IHF) Men’s Handball World Championship.

The worlds will be held from 11 to 29 January next year, to be co-hosted by Poland and Sweden, with 32 nations from across the globe taking part. Bahrain will be playing Saudi on 17 December and then face off with Belarus in back-to-back contests on 19 and 20 December.

The nationals are scheduled to begin their next training gathering from Monday next week under head coach Aron Kristjansson from Iceland. In addition to their friendly games next month, the Bahrainis will also compete in a warm-up tournament in Spain in early January.

Other nations participating in this friendly competition are Argentina, Romania and hosts Spain. The Argentinians and Spaniards will also be playing in the worlds. Bahrain are in Group H for the tournament’s first round alongside Denmark, Belgium and Tunisia.

The thirty-two nations from around the world, representing five confederations, 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. 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.