Bahrain juniors outclass Greece

TDT | Manama  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s under-21 national handball team defeated Greece 38-29 last night in their second and final placement match of the 24th IHF Men’s Junior World Championship 2023, currently being hosted by Greece and Germany.

The Bahrainis can secure a ranking of as high as 13th overall amongst the 32 competing teams, and it will depend on the scores of the other classification games. The nationals’ placing will be their best-ever in the history of the International Handball Federation (IHF) tournament.

They were classified 17th overall the previous two times they played in the junior handball worlds in the 1995 and 2019 editions. In last night’s win, the nationals raced out to a quick 7-1 lead and enjoyed a commanding 15-6 advantage entering the last 10 minutes of the first half.

The Greeks did well to narrow the gap and Bahrain held just an 18- 15 edge at the break. In the concluding 30-minute period, Greece were able to get to within three goals, 18-21, but the Bahrainis scored the next four goals and their unanswered conversions helped them build a comfortable 25-18 gap. Bahrain rode their momentum and took a double-digit lead with just over 10 minutes left in the contest, and they did well to close out the match for the nine-goal victory.

Goalkeeper Hesham Isa was named the Player of the Match and he received a prize post-game from Bahrain Handball Association president Ali Issa, who was in attendance. Isa made 17 saves in the contest while also contributing one goal. Mohamed Rabia top scored for the Bahrainis with 10 goals, while Ali Alasheeri chipped in with eight in the win.

Husain Saleh added six, while Abdulla Ali had five goals, Komail Ali three, and both Ali Abdulla and Jassim Khamis finished with two apiece. Mahmood Alkhunaizi completed Bahrain’s scorers with a single goal. For the Greeks, Nikolaos Tzortzinis had six goals to pace his team and Nikolaos Marios Dikaioulias finished with four. Bahrain’s junior national team is coached by Bahraini tactician Essam Abdulla.