Bahraini juniors bow to Egypt

TDT | Manama            

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s under-21 national handball team put in a spirited performance but went down fighting against their counterparts from Egypt 27-31 last night in their first of two final placement matches in the 24th IHF Men’s Junior World Championship 2023, currently being hosted by Greece and Germany.

The Bahrainis faced a big deficit early on but roared back before the half and took a slim, single-goal lead, 16-15, at the break. Their rivals regained control, however, starting the final 30-minute period and although the nationals stayed within striking distance, getting to within a single goal multiple times over the closing minutes, they could not get over the hump.

Following the result, Bahrain will now play one last game in the tournament to determine their final classification between ninth and 16th place. They will face off with Greece in a fixture scheduled for this evening with a 7pm start, Bahrain time.

The Greeks were 29-39 losers to Sweden in their head-to-head yesterday, forging the match-up. Whatever today’s result for Bahrain, the nationals are already ensured of their best finish in the junior worlds, having been classified 17th overall the previous two times they played in the tournament in the 1995 and 2019 editions.

In last night’s loss, three players scored five goals each for Bahrain, including Ali Alasheeri, Ahmed Kadhem and Jassim Khamis. Mahmood Alkhunaizi and Ali Abdulla had three goals apiece, while Mohamed Rabia and Abdulla Ali both scored twice.

Ahmed Alzain and Husain Saleh rounded out the Bahrainis’ scoresheet with a goal each. For Egypt, they were led by Rady Ahmed, Mohab Abdelhak and Mahmoud Shalby, who fired in six conversions apiece.