TDT | Manama
Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain won the silver medal at the men’s handball tournament of the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China yesterday. The Saudi senior national team lost 25-32 to fellow Gulf country Qatar, which had won three consecutive gold medals at the Asiad Games, and had to settle for second place in the tournament.
The defeat gave Bahrain its second consecutive silver medal and third overall medal in Asian Games history. They won a bronze medal in Incheon, South Korea in 2014, and a silver medal at the previous competition in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018.
In both years the Qatari was crowned champion, scoring a hat-trick. Bahrain are still aiming to win their first Asiad men’s handball title. Following yesterday’s final held at the Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Center, the athletes on the podium were awarded their respective medals and trophies at the awards ceremony.
Bahrain Handball Association President Ali Issa handed over the medals to the Bahrainis. Kuwait defeated Japan 31-30 in the third-place match to win the bronze medal and finish in the top three in all GCC.
With yesterday’s result, Bahrain won its second silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games, bringing its total medal tally to 17 so far, placing it 9th in the medal standings based on gold medals and overall out of 36 countries on the podium. Ranked 15th. In every sport.
Their silver medal is the only medal the delegation has won so far outside of athletics, with 10 other gold medals and six bronze medals won. Bahrain remained at the top of the Arab countries in the medal standings.
In yesterday’s gold medal race, the Nationals got off to a great start, winning 4-1 and holding the lead throughout the first half. Mohamed Habib Nasser’s conversion from 9 meters put them ahead at 11-7, and although Qatar fought back to 10-11 with a shot from Rafael Capote, goals from Hassan Madan and Ahmed Fadel put them ahead. Bahrain entered the first half with a goal. Slim 14-12 advantage.
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The Nationals then started the final 30 minutes where they left off, making it 15-12 on a penalty by Kasim Kambar. But Qatar then went on a decisive 10-3 run to completely steal the momentum and take full control of the match in just under 10 minutes.
Capote sparked a rally with a goal from the 9-meter line and then another from that range to give Qatar a 22-18 lead with 20 minutes remaining. Despite their best efforts, Bahrain never recovered and Qatar continued to build a lead until the end, en route to a seven-goal victory.
Qatar outscored Bahrain 20-11 throughout the second half. It was Kambar who led Bahrain’s valiant effort in this match, scoring five goals, while Nasser scored four. Captain Hussein Al Sayyad and Mohamed Habib Ahmed each scored three goals, while Madan, Hassan Al Samahij and Ali Mirza each scored two goals. Mohamed Rabeah, Ahmed Fadel, Mohamed Mirza and Mahdi Saad all contributed to the goals in this match.
Goalkeeper Mohamed Abdulhussein made eight saves in the tournament. For Qatar, Capote scored eight goals and Aladin Belchedo scored five. Amin Guechis and Abdulrazak Murad each scored four goals.