Bahrainis set for France handball event

TDT | Manama                                                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national handball team will take on their counterparts from Brazil and Tunisia in an international friendly tournament in France early next year. The tune-up competition, to be held in Nantes, is scheduled for 4 to 6 January, and the Bahrainis will be playing as part of their preparations for the 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship.

The tournament is set to be hosted by the Kingdom from 11 to 25 January next year. Organised in cooperation with the Asian Handball Federation, it also acts as a qualifier for 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship.

Head coach Aron Kristjansson arrived in Bahrain on Sunday and went straight to work with the national team in their training sessions. Prior to their French trip, the Bahrainis are also set to play Iraq and Morocco in a pair of international friendly games at home.

A total of 16 nations are competing in the Asian championship, with the top five securing places at the worlds. Bahrain are in Group D along with the UAE, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan for the preliminary round. Group A features defending champions Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Chinese Taipei.

Group B includes Iran, South Korea, China and New Zealand; and Group C is composed of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India and Japan. Bahrain is hosting the continental competition for the fourth time in its history. It previously also staged the event in 2016, 2014 and 1993. The Bahrainis have never won the Asian men’s title, but have claimed the silver medals five times in the past and also won the bronze medal once.