Youth handball team gear up for Asian challenge

Bahrain are making their final preparations for the 11th AHF Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship, which gets underway in Amman, Jordan, on Thursday.

The kingdom’s U19 men are one of 10 teams competing in the continental tournament, which runs until August 31 and also serves as a qualifier for the 12th IHF Men’s Youth Handball World Championship.

The top four finishers in Amman will book their places at the worlds, scheduled to take place from July 29 to August 9 next year.

Bahrain have been drawn in a challenging Group A alongside South Korea, hosts Jordan, India and Uzbekistan, while Group B features Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar and Syria.

The Bahrainis open their campaign against India on Thursday before facing Jordan the following day.

They then take on Uzbekistan on August 23 before concluding their preliminary-round programme against South Korea on August 26.

Bahrain have been stepping up their preparations under Egyptian head coach Mohamed Abdulrahman, with their build-up including local training and an overseas camp in Kuwait.

The squad also recently played a local friendly against Bahrain’s youth team at the Bahrain Handball Association arena in Umm Al Hassam as the coaching staff assessed the players’ technical and physical readiness ahead of the trip to Jordan.

This year’s championship was initially due to feature 12 teams, but the withdrawals of defending champions Japan and Chinese Taipei prompted the Asian Handball Federation to conduct a new draw last week.

Bahrain will be making their 10th appearance in the continental youth championship and boast an impressive record in the competition.

They were crowned Asian champions in successive editions in 2016 and 2018, while they also claimed bronze in 2010.

The Bahrainis have finished inside the top five in each of their other six appearances, underlining their consistency at this level.