Bahrainis suffer double loss in France handball friendlies

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national handball team bowed to their counterparts from Tunisia and Brazil in their two matches in an international friendly tournament held in Nantes, France.

The Bahrainis lost to their Tunisian opponents 23-32 last night, after also having suffered a narrow 28-30 defeat against the Brazilians.

The nationals used those games as part of their preparations for the upcoming 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship, which is set to be hosted by the Kingdom from Thursday to 25 January.

The event also acts as a qualifier for 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, with the top five securing berths in the worlds. In last night’s contest, Bahrain trailed 11- 15 at the half and never recovered.

In their earlier game against Brazil, the Bahrainis also faced a deficit at the break at 12-19, but they roared back in the final 30-minute period and were even able to tie the proceedings late on.

But Brazil were able to come up with the key plays in the closing minutes to eke out the two-goal victory.

Brief Following yesterday’s encounter, the Bahrainis concluded their brief visit to France and are now scheduled to return to the Kingdom for the final lead-up to the continental competition.

Head coach Aron Kristjansson had a 22-player squad in Nantes that included Mohammed Abdulhussain, Mohammed Mirza, Ali Mirza, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Mujtaba Al Zaimour, Ali Eid, Hassan Shahab, Hassan Al Samaheeji, Mohammed Hameed, Hesham Issa, Qassim Qambar, Mohammed Abdulredha, Ahmed Redha, Ahmed Jalal, Abdulla Al Zaimour, Hassan Madan, Ahmed Almaqabi, Adel Mohammed, Hassan Mirza, Jassim Khamis and Ali Al Ashiri.

Inspirational captain and international star Hussain Al Sayyad did not join the team in France due to injury, but is expected to be named onto Kristjansson’s final squad for the Asian championship, in which a total of 16 nations are taking part. Bahrain are in Group D for the preliminary round along with Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and the UAE.

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.