Bahrain make dominant start

TDT | Manama                                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain powered to a dominant 47-13 victory over Kazakhstan last night to make a winning start to their title bid in the 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship, being held at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.

The Bahrainis were in control for the entire contest and never wavered. They led by as many as their final winning margin of 34 goals the rest of the way, sending out a stern warning to the rest of the 16-nation field of their intentions to secure the coveted continental crown for the very first time.

Ahmed Jalal was named the Best Player of the Game in Bahrain’s win. In attendance in yesterday’s clash was General Sports Authority CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar and Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) president Ali Issa.

The Asian championship is being organised and run by the BHA in cooperation with the Asian Handball Federation. All are welcome to attend the games at the tournament venue. Entry is free of charge throughout the event.

Bahrain burst out of the gate against their Kazakh counterparts and took a quick 5-1 lead in the early minutes, which they turned to a commanding 24-7 advantage at the half. The hosts never took their foot off the gas until the final buzzer, giving them their first win in Group D of the competition’s preliminary round.

Jalal finished as Bahrain’s joint-top scorer alongside Ali Al Asheeri with eight goals apiece. Ali Mirza chipped in with seven, while skipper Hussain Al Sayyad scored six goals. Mohammed Habib Nasser added five conversions.

For the Kazakhs, Daniyar Irismetov was their leading performer with three goals. The Bahrainis are next set to take on Hong Kong in their second assignment tomorrow. Hong Kong lost to the UAE 24- 29 in yesterday’s other Group D fixture.

Also on the tournament’s opening day, Japan claimed a hard-earned 29-25 win against Saudi Arabia, while Iraq coasted to a massive 55-12 victory over India. Both contests were part of yesterday’s Group C fixtures. Action continues today at Khalifa Sports City Arena. Four matches are scheduled for each day in the preliminary round, starting from 1pm, with the last fixture of each day scheduled to begin at 7pm.

Defending champions Qatar open their bid against Chinese Taipei in Group A to kick off today’s schedule, to be followed by New Zealand facing Iran at 3pm in Group B. At 5pm, an all-Gulf clash between Kuwait and Oman will take place, also in Group A, while the day’s other Group B encounter at 7pm will be between South Korea and China.

The 16 nations have been divided into four groups for this stage, at the end of which the top two move on to play in the main round and continue their title bids, while the bottom two will contend for the Martyr Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah Cup.

The ensuing phase will be held from 18 to 21 January, after which the semi-finals will take place on 23 January. The gold and bronze medal games will take place on 25 January. Final classification contests are also scheduled for the 22nd and 23^rd.