*** Bahrain finish fourth at Asian Junior Handball Championship | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Bahrain finish fourth at Asian Junior Handball Championship

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Bahrain's junior men's handball team concluded their campaign at the 19th Asian Men's Junior Handball Championship with a fourth-place finish after falling 37-27 to Saudi Arabia in the bronze medal match yesterday in Chuzhou, China.

Despite missing out on a place on the podium, Bahrain's biggest achievement came earlier in the tournament after securing qualification for the 2027 IHF Men's U21 World Championship in North Macedonia by reaching the semi-finals.

The kingdom's junior side enjoyed an impressive run throughout the continental championship, opening their campaign with a victory over Chinese Taipei before suffering their only preliminary-round defeat against Saudi Arabia.

They responded in style with successive wins over Hong Kong, Oman and hosts China to advance to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Iran 31-24 to book their place in the last four.

Under the guidance of head coach Hussam Madan, Bahrain produced a spirited performance against South Korea in the semi-finals but were narrowly edged 32-31 in a thrilling encounter before suffering defeat to Saudi Arabia in the bronze medal match.

South Korea went on to claim the Asian title after defeating the UAE 25-24 in the final.