Bahrain lose handball worlds opener

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com     

Bahrain’s under-21 national handball team had a disappointing start to their campaign in the 24th IHF Men’s Junior World Championship 2023 yesterday.

The Bahrainis lost to their counterparts from Sweden 35-17 in their opening Group F fixture, played at Ano Liosia Olympic Hall in Athens. The tournament, organised and run by the International Handball Federation (IHF), is being co-hosted by Greece and Germany.

Bahrain are one of 32 countries taking part in the event.

The Swedes were the aggressors from the start, taking a 7-2 lead in the first half although the Bahrainis cut the deficit to one with four unanswered goals. Sweden replied with an 8-1 run, which helped them take a comfortable 21-11 advantage into the break.

The nationals tried to recover in the second half, but their opponents were too good on the day.

The Swedes then doubled Bahrain’s output en route to claiming the dominant 18-goal victory at the final buzzer. Mohammed Rabia had seven goals as the Bahrainis’ leading scorer in the loss, while Ali Alasheeri added five.

Yaser Qamabar scored twice in the game while Mahmood Alkhunaizi, Ahmed Kadhem and Husain Saleh rounded off the national team’s scoresheet.

For Sweden, four players finished with five goals apiece including Carl Hamberg, Tobias Ljungmark, Petter Donaldsson and Kasper Palmar.

Albin Leyman chipped in with four goals in the win.

Palmar was later named the Player of the Match and received a prize for his efforts post-game.

The Bahrainis will now be looking to bounce back when they return to the court tomorrow against Slovenia.

The match is scheduled for an 11am throw-off, Bahrain time.

They then complete their preliminary round campaign against Greenland on Friday at 1.15pm.

The Slovenians outplayed Greenland 48-23 in yesterday’s other Group F fixture, which took place at the same venue.

There are 32 teams in all competing in the worlds.

They have been divided into eight pools of four for the opening stage. Group A features France, Poland, Croatia and the US.

Group B comprises Algeria, Germany, Tunisia and Libya.

Group C consists of Portugal, Brazil, Kuwait and Costa Rica; while Group D includes Spain, Faroe Islands, Japan and Angola.

Group E features Hungary, Denmark, Argentina and Norway; while Group G comprises Serbia, Morocco, Chile and Iceland.

The field is completed by Egypt, Greece, Cuba and Saudi Arabia in Group H.

The Bahrainis are coached by Essam Abdulla. This year’s junior worlds is only the third time Bahrain are competing.

They previously also took part in the 1995 and 2019 editions, both times finishing 17th overall.