Bahrain finish fifth in beach handball tourney

Manama : Bahrain yesterday captured fifth place in the beach handball championship as they signed off in their participation at the ongoing 2016 Fifth Asian Beach Games in Da Nang, in Vietnam.

In their concluding placing matches, Bahrain defeated Japan with a well earned 2-0 victory to seal the best position possible in the competition after losing their chances for a podium finish.

Bahrain had qualified for the fifth place match after edging a 2-0 win over Hong Kong in the first consolation match on Friday. The Games will come to a close on Tuesday with the closing ceremony.

Mahmood Mahdi (4 goals) inspired Bahrain to victory, while Sayed Shehab, Bilal Askani and Jaafar Mohamed contributed with three goals apiece, while Adam Al Nasheet scored twice and a goal each from Mohammed Fardan and goalkeeper Husain Al Qaidoom.

Coached by Raed Al Marzooq, Bahrain faced a fierce challenge from a well-organised Japan in the first period. However, Al Marzooq showed strength in the end and took the first period 20-18 and won a closely-contested second period 13-12 seal the victory.

Bahrain started their campaign winning their opener against Thailand 2-1, but conceded two defeats to Pakistan and Qatar, who booked their berths in the next round. Bahrain’s other wins in the group were against Thailand (2-1) and India (2-0).

Bahrain have clinched two gold medals at the games, the first of which was won by Ali Monfaredi in the jiu jitsu’s 77kg weight category and Ali Al Qassab then sealed a second in the 162cm bodybuilding category.

Meanwhile, members of the Bahrain delegation members started departing from Vietnam yesterday.