Bahrain go down fighting

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain narrowly missed their chance last night to claim a direct qualification berth for the men’s handball tournament at next year’s Paris Olympic Games.

The Kingdom’s senior men’s national handball team went down fighting to their counterparts from Japan 29-32 in the final of the Asian Men’s Qualification tournament, which wrapped up yesterday in Doha, Qatar.

Attending the contest was Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority president and Bahrain Olympic Committee chief His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

HH Shaikh Khalid was welcomed upon his arrival in Doha by Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Japanese claimed the lone place available from the qualifiers at the 2024 Olympiad.

Bahrain, however, still have one chance to punch their tickets to the French capital.

But they will yet again face a monumental task as they will be part of a 12-team field of top handball nations from around the world, who will be divided into three Olympic qualifying tournaments, also to be held next year.

Each event will feature four countries, with the top two making it through to Paris.

The men’s handball tournament at the Olympic Games will consist of only 12 nations battling it out for the medals.

Bahrain qualified for the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 with their historic victory in the Asian Men’s Qualification event in 2019, also held in Doha.

This year they have to settle for the qualifiers’ silver medals.

The Bahrainis put in a valiant effort last night against Japan, but their opponents were too good on the night, with goalkeeper Takumi Nakamura amongst those playing a key starring role.

The Japanese went ahead by as many as five goals midway through the second half, but the nationals were able to cut the deficit to just two with less than a minute remaining following an Ali Eid penalty.

But their comeback came a little too late and Kosuke Yasuhira sealed the win for Japan with a goal and less than 30 seconds to play.

That pegged the final score and signalled the start of the Japanese celebrations. Earlier in the contest, the two sides exchanged the advantage in the first half, but after the game was tied at 12-all, Japan took control with four unanswered goals, helping them take an 18-13 lead into the break.

Bahrain fought back right after the re-start, and a save by goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain followed by a goal from beyond the half-court line from skipper Hussain Al Sayyad brought the nationals back to within one, 18-19.

A conversion from Tatsuki Yoshino and two straight from Hiroki Motoki gave Japan their four-goal cushion once again, which they maintained for much of the remainder of the contest until a Qassim Qambar strike and Eid’s penalty at the very end.

Joining Japan and Bahrain on the qualifiers’ podium were South Korea, who defeated Qatar 38-32 in yesterday’s bronze medal match.