Asian handball action begins!

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship gets underway today in the Kingdom of Bahrain, kicking off the title bids of 16 of the continent’s leading national teams.

Four matches are scheduled for today at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town. At 1pm, Hong Kong take on the UAE in a Group D encounter, followed at 3pm by India facing Iraq in Group C.

At 5pm, Japan square off with Saudi Arabia in another Group C fixture, and then at 7pm hosts Bahrain play Kazakhstan in Group D to get their home stand underway.

The prestigious competition, organised by the Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) in cooperation with the Asian Handball Federation, continues until 25 January.

As part of the formalities ahead of the start of play, the event’s official technical meeting took place yesterday with representatives from each of the participating nations on hand.

BHA president and Bahrain Olympic Committee member Ali Issa was also present.

At the gathering, all issues relating to the tournament were discussed, and the kits of each of the participating national teams were presented.

The 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship also acts as a qualifier for 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship.

The top five senior men’s national teams secure berths in next year’s worlds, to be held in Croatia, Denmark, and Norway.

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 championship’s preliminary round will be held until Tuesday next week.

The field has been divided into four groups for this stage, at the end of which the top two from each move on to the main round and stay in contention for the coveted title.

The bottom two squads will compete for the Martyr Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah Cup.

Group A features defending champions Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Chinese Taipei, while Group B includes Iran, South Korea, China and New Zealand.

All eight of those teams will be in action tomorrow. Squad Bahrain have a full-strength squad for the tournament, to be guided by head coach Aron Kristjansson from Iceland.

The Bahrainis are to be spearheaded by inspirational captain and international handball star Hussain Al Sayyad.

The roster also features top veterans including goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain, Mohammed Mirza, Ali Mirza, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Ali Eid, Hassan Shehab, Ahmed Almaqabi, Ahmed Jalal, and Hassan Al Samaheeji, along with the Kingdom’s young talents such as Mohammed Habib Nasser, Mujtaba Al Zaimour, Mohammed Hameed, Qassim Qambar, Ahmed Redha, Abdulla Al Zaimour, Hassan Madan, Jassim Khamis, Ali Al Ashiri and goalkeeper Hesham Issa.

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.

The nationals captured their silver in 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018 and in the 2022 championship.

Their bronze medal was won in 1995. Qatar are the reigning champions. They have won the gold medal the last five editions of the tournament.