HANDBALL – BAHRAIN maintained their undefeated record in the men’s handball tournament yesterday at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The kingdom’s senior men’s national team powered past their counterparts from South Korea 30-21 for their third straight victory in Group B of the nine-nation competition’s preliminary round.
Goals from Ahmed Kadhem and Mohammed Habib Nasser broke a 10-all deadlock and gave the Bahrainis a slim two-goal lead at the break. They never looked back from there and pulled away with an impressive second-half showing to hold on to first place on their division table.
Nasser finished as Bahrain’s leading scorer with six goals, while Salman Alshowaikh contributed five and both Hasan Madan and inspirational skipper Hussain Al Sayyad fired in four goals apiece.
Kwangsoon Park had five goals to pace South Korea in their first defeat.
The result followed the Bahrainis’ earlier wins against Kazakhstan and Iran as the nationals step up their quest for the elusive Asian Games men’s handball gold, which they are hoping to capture for the first time.
They are repeat silver-medallists, having lost to three-time defending champions Qatar in the final of the Asian Games’ 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia, and then again in 2022 in Hangzhou, China. The nationals were also bronze-medallists in the 2014 tournament in Incheon, South Korea.
Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president and the kingdom’s delegation head in Aichi-Nagoya Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa attended yesterday’s game.
Also on hand were BOC board member and Bahrain Handball Federation president Ali Issa Ishaqi, BOC board member and Bahrain Table Tennis Association president Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, BOC sports project management director Lounes Madene, and BOC executive director of operations and Bahrain’s chef de mission Ahmed Abdulghaffar, along with other officials.
Following a rest day today, the Bahrainis are back in action tomorrow for their concluding Group B assignment against Kuwait, scheduled for a 7.30am start, Bahrain time. The quarter-finals are then scheduled for Saturday and then the semis will be held on Monday next week. That will set the stage for the gold and bronze medal games next Tuesday, which will be the concluding day of men’s handball at this year’s Asiad.
Group A in the competition features Qatar, China, Hong Kong, and hosts Japan.
In other games yesterday, Iran beat Kazakhstan 28-23 in the other Group B clash while China outplayed Hong Kong 38-26 in Group A.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh