Bahrain barge through to handball final in Asian Games

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain punched their tickets to the men’s handball gold medal match yesterday at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The nationals earned their place in the title-decider after battling past Japan 30-28 in a hugely thrilling semi-final contest.

Skipper Hussain Al Sayyad was the lategame hero for the Bahrainis.

He scored backto-back goals with less than two minutes to play to build a three-goal cushion after the Japanese got to within one.

Bahrain are now assured of a medal in men’s handball and will hope to capture their first-ever Asiad gold when they take on defending champions Qatar in the final, scheduled for tomorrow at 2pm, Bahrain time.

The Qataris booked their place after defeating fellow-Gulf side Kuwait 29-24 in yesterday’s other final four affair.

Tomorrow’s gold medal clash is a re-match of the final in the 2018 edition of the Asian Games, when the Bahrainis had to settle for silver.

The bronze medal game will also be held tomorrow at 10am, Bahrain time.

The fixtures will mark the final day of the handball competitions in Hangzhou.

The Bahrainis are looking to secure only their third-ever men’s handball Asiad medals.

Prior to their runner-up finish in the previous edition of the Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia, they had clinched bronze in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.

In Bahrain’s victory yesterday, the nationals enjoyed an impressive first half and took a 17-13 lead into the interval.

But in the final 30 minutes, Japan were the aggressors and they gradually cut into the Bahrainis’ lead.

A Naoki Sugioka steal and goal brought them to within one, 23-24, with just over 10 minutes remaining, and the Japanese continued to threaten and stay within striking distance over the remainder of regulation.

Conversions from Yuto Agarie, Mahdi Saad and then Shin Izumoto made it 28-27, with Bahrain clinging to the slim, one-goal advantage with under three minutes left.

But that set the stage for Al Sayyad’s heroics. He fired in both his succeeding goals from the nine-metre line into the bottom-right corner of the net.

Sugioka pegged the final score with a goal following a missed penalty in the very last second of regulation.

Al Sayyad finished as the victors’ leading scorer with nine goals, while Mohammed Habib Ahmed added six and Mohammed Habib Nasser five.

Ahmed Fadhel chipped in with four makes while Ali Mirza had three and Mahdi Saad two.

Mohammed Mirza rounded out Bahrain’s scorers with one goal. Star goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain also played a key role in the win.

He finished with an impressive 16 saves. For the Japanese, Izumoto paced his team with six goals, while Adam Yuki Baig had five.