Iran stands between Bahrain and World Cup dream

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s junior national handball team will face Iran today in a quarter-final clash at the 19th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship, with a place in the semi-finals and qualification for the World Championship on the line.

The match will be played at 7am Bahrain time, with victory securing Bahrain a place in the last four and guaranteeing qualification for the 26th IHF Men’s U21 Handball World Championship, scheduled to be held in North Macedonia from June 23 to July 4 next year.

All four semi-finalists of the Asian championship will earn their places at the global tournament, adding further significance to the knockout stage. The quarter-finals will be followed by the semi-finals on Saturday, which will determine the match-ups for the gold and bronze medal games on Monday, the championship’s closing day. Classification matches will also take place during the final two days of the knockout rounds.

Bahrain enter the knockout stage full of confidence after an impressive preliminary round campaign, finishing second in Group A with four wins from five matches. The young Bahrainis defeated Chinese Taipei (39-27), Hong Kong (43-15), Oman (33-23) and hosts China (35-27), with their only defeat coming against group winners Saudi Arabia.

Iran advanced after finishing third in Group B with three wins, one draw and two defeats.

Under head coach Husam Madan, Bahrain will now aim to continue their strong run by overcoming Iran, reaching the semi-finals and securing their place on the world stage.