Bahrain Youth Handball Team Prepares For AYG

Hedin’s squad begins local and overseas training

Bahrain’s national youth handball team is preparing for the third Asian Youth Games, to be held in the kingdom from October 22–31. The men’s handball event will take place from October 19–30 at the Umm Al Hassam Sports Hall, starting before the official opening. The team is also preparing for the Islamic Solidarity Games in Saudi Arabia in November.

Local training will start next week at Umm Al Hassam Hall. After that, the squad will travel to Bosnia for an overseas camp. Swedish coach Robert Hedin and national assistant Ali Hussain will lead the sessions.

The Asian Handball Federation revised the Youth Games draw after India, Qatar, and Uzbekistan withdrew, reducing the number of participating teams from 14 to 11, and prompting a change in the competition format from four groups to two, in line with AHF COC Regulations. The revised draw took place on September 8 at the Gulf Hotel, with attendees including Ali Mohamed Isa Abdulla Eshaqi (AHF Vice President), Yousef Duaij (Chairman of Executive Committee for the Games), Ahmed Mohammed Abdulghaffar (Vice Chairman), and Ganesan Sundaram Moorthy (OCA Sports Director).

Group A includes Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Maldives, and Hong Kong-China. Group B includes Kuwait, I.R. Iran, P.R. China, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, and Kazakhstan.