Bahrain edge past Belarus in tune-up

TDT | Manama                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Bahrain’s senior men’s national handball team overcame their counterparts from Belarus 30-27 last night in an international friendly game played at the Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) Arena in Um Al Hassam.

The Bahrainis led 18-12 at the half and did well to hold on to their advantage and stave off the late Belarus comeback.

The friendly was the second in as many days for Bahrain’s national team with the European giants.

The Bahrainis are preparing for the 28th International Handball Federation (IHF) Men’s Handball World Championship, taking place next month to be co-hosted by Poland and Sweden.

The nationals will now continue their local training under head coach Aron Kristjansson before competing in a warmup tournament in Spain early next month, with other participating nations being Argentina, Romania and hosts Spain.

The Argentinians and Spaniards are also playing in the world championship. Bahrain are in Group H for the worlds along with Denmark, Belgium and Tunisia.

The 32 nations from five confederations have been divided into eight groups for the tournament’s preliminary stage.