TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain last night showed their tenacity with a 36-24 come-from-behind victory over Kuwait in the Asian Men’s Qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Men’s Handball Tournament, currently being held in Doha.
After a disappointing one-goal loss to Japan in their last match that ended their hopes of qualifying, Bahrain made a big comeback yesterday to outscore their Gulf rivals and put their Olympic bid back on track. .
The Nationals have back inspirational skipper Hussein Al Sayyad, who missed the past two games with a back injury. Al Sayyad scored an impressive nine goals, leading all scorers in the match and contributing to the victory. With this result, Bahrain achieved their second win in three matches in Group B of the Qualifying League.
They had routed Kazakhstan in the opening game before losing to Japan. They will have a rest day today, and tomorrow they will finish the qualifying match against the national team, Iran. It will be a winner-take-all battle, with the winner advancing to the top four along with pool champion Japan.
Bahrain and Iran are currently tied on points in Group B, with the Nationals ahead on goal difference. In the other Group B match yesterday, Japan defeated Kazakhstan 44-19 to finish this stage with an unbeaten record. In Group A, China defeated India 46-15 and Saudi Arabia defeated UAE 22-21.
After one round robin, the top two teams from the two groups will advance to the semi-finals scheduled for Thursday. The final and third-place match will be held on Saturday, the last day of qualifying. Only the winners of the Asian men’s qualification tournament will qualify directly for next year’s Paris Olympics men’s handball competition.
The runners-up in Doha will be given another chance to book their tickets, but will have to compete against other top handball nations from around the world in one of three Olympic qualifying tournaments. Bahrain will make a historic debut at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is aiming to qualify for its second consecutive Olympics.
This was not only the first time that the national team participated in the men’s handball competition at the Olympic Games, but also the first time that the Kingdom participated in the Olympic team competition. In last night’s encounter, Bahrain held a slight 16-14 advantage in the first half, but after the break they were able to gradually pull away from their rivals en route to the all-important victory.
Mohamed Habib Nasser scored eight goals for Bahrain, while Qassim Kambal and Ahmed Fadel added five each. Ali Mirza scored three goals, Mahdi Saad scored two goals, and Mohamed Hamed Rabia and Mohamed Mirza each scored one goal. Abdullah Alhamez, Saleh Ali and Abdulaziz Alshamari paced the defeated Kuwait side with five goals each.