Bahrain set for tough Olympic qualifiers

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national handball team have been pitted against Kazakhstan in their opening match of the Asian qualifying tournament for next year’s Paris Olympic Games.

The competition is scheduled to take place 18 to 28 October in Doha, and Bahrain is one of 11 nations set to take part.

They will be vying for just one direct spot in the men’s handball event at the Olympics.

The Bahrainis are in Group B for qualification’s preliminary round along with the Kazakhs, Iran, Kuwait and Japan.

Their game against Kazakhstan will be part of a five-match card on opening day on 18 October.

The qualifiers’ schedule was released yesterday by the Asian Handball Federation (AHF), who are organising and will run the competition.

Following their first fixture, Bahrain will then take on Japan on 19 October, before having a rest the following two days.

The nationals then return to action on 22 October against Kuwait, and then complete their group campaign on 24 October against Iran.

Group A features Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the UAE, India and China.

Uzbekistan were also originally taking part and were to play in Group B, but they have withdrawn due to unforeseen circumstances, according to the AHF. At the end of the preliminary stage following a single round-robin, the top two from each group move on to the semi-finals, slated for 26 October.

The winners then clash in the gold medal game and the lone Olympics berth on 28 October, while the losers play for the bronze medals.

While the gold-medallists book their tickets to Paris, the silver-medallists will have one last chance to compete for an Olympic spot.

They will have to play in the International Handball Federation Men’s Handball Olympic Qualification Tournament, to be held in March of next year. Bahrain will be looking to qualify for their second successive Olympics.

They won the previous edition of the continental qualifiers to make history with their debut appearance at the men’s handball tournament at the Tokyo Games held in 2021.

It was also the first time in the history of Bahrain that the Kingdom qualified for a team sport at the Olympics.

Aside from Olympic qualification, Bahrain will be taking part in the men’s handball tournament at the Hangzhou Asian Games starting next month.

There, they will have a preview of what they can look forward to in the qualifiers, as they have also been drawn with the Kazakhs and Uzbekistan in Group C for the Asiad’s preliminary stage.

Bahrain’s national handball squad are currently training locally under head coach Aron Kristjansson for their upcoming participations.