Japan stun Bahrain in Asian Men’s Qualification for 2024 Olympics

TDT | Manama                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain suffered a disheartening 26-27 loss to Japan last night in the Asian Men’s Qualification competition for the men’s handball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games 2024. The nationals conceded a penalty with less than 10 seconds to go and Japan’s Kosuke Yasuhira made no mistake with his effort.

After a timeout, Mohammed Habib Nasser had one last chance to salvage a draw, but his shot from well beyond the nine-metre line hit the woodwork and the Japanese completed their stunning come-from-behind win.

Japan goalkeeper Takumi Nakamura was instrumental in their victory, making a number of crucial saves throughout the match. The result was the first loss for the Bahrainis in their two games so far in Group B of the qualifiers’ preliminary round. They had previously routed Kazakhstan to kick start the competition, which is taking place in Doha, Qatar.

Despite the defeat, Bahrain are still in contention in their qualification bid, but cannot afford any slip-ups moving forward. Today is a rest day at the Qatari capital and Bahrain only return to action on Sunday against Kuwait. After another rest day on Monday, they complete the preliminaries against Iran on Tuesday next week.

Iran edged past Kuwait 29-28 in yesterday’s other Group B game; while in Group A, South Korea defeated Saudi Arabia 29-27 and the UAE squeezed past China 31-30. Qatar and India also faced off last night. At the end of a single round-robin, the top two teams from the two groups advance to the semi-finals, which are scheduled for Thursday next week. The final and game for third place will then be held on the qualifiers’ concluding day of action on 28 October.

Only the winners of the Asian Men’s Qualification tournament clinch a direct berth in next year’s men’s handball competition at the Paris Olympics. The runners-up from Doha will get another chance to book their tickets, but must compete against other top handball nations from around the world in one of three Olympic qualifying events.

Bahrain are aiming to qualify for their second successive Olympics, after making their historic debut at the Tokyo Olympiad held in 2021. It was not only the national team’s first time competing in the men’s handball tournament at any Olympic Games, but it was also the Kingdom’s maiden appearance in any team sport at the Olympics. In last night’s clash, Bahrain and Japan matched each other goal for goal for virtually the entire contest.

After going down 12-13, the Bahrainis scored two straight to regain the lead and then goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain made a brilliant save on a Shinnosuke Tokuda effort. That helped Bahrain take a slim 16-14 lead at the half. After the break, things were even tighter and Bahrain could not widen the gap from their rivals.

Each time Bahrain went ahead, the Japanese had a reply. A Mohammed Habib Ahmed goal made it 24-23 and then Abdulhussain made another fine stop, giving the Bahrainis a chance to go ahead by two, but Ahmed misfired on his next attempt and Japan tied once again.

Hiroki Motoki then scored on a fast-break to give the Japanese a slight edge with just over six minutes left, and then Ahmed levelled the scores again at 25- all with a penalty. A Nasser shot was saved by Nakamura, which was followed by a Jin Watanabe goal for a 26- 25 advantage, but Ahmed Jalal scored for Bahrain to forge another deadlock heading into the final two minutes.

Japan’s Taiga Tsutaya then missed a crucial penalty shot, although Bahrain could not take advantage on the other end and a Hassan Shehab turnover led to Yasuhira’s decisive penalty shot, which he sent to the bottom-left corner of the net.