Third Asian title beckons for Bahrain
Bahrain marched into the final of the 11th Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship last night after overcoming Iran 26-23 in a hard-fought semi-final at Princess Sumaya Hall in Amman, Jordan.
The kingdom’s under-19 handball team, who secured qualification for next year’s IHF Men’s Youth Handball World Championship with their quarter-final victory over Saudi Arabia, held a slender 14-13 advantage at half-time before outscoring the Iranians 12-10 over the final 30 minutes.
Bahrain will now face Gulf rivals Qatar in the gold medal game tomorrow as they bid to capture their third Asian youth crown.
Qatar booked their place in the final with a 32-28 victory over South Korea in yesterday’s other semi-final.
The Bahrainis, coached by Mohamed Soliman, made the brighter start despite conceding the opening goal, responding with four unanswered strikes to move 4-1 ahead after eight minutes.
Sayed Majeed Almuhafda struck twice on breakthroughs during that early surge, but Mohammadreza Rajabi’s Iran gradually fought their way back and drew level at 6-6 in the 17th minute.
Little separated the teams for the remainder of the opening period, with the scores level on several occasions. Sayed Omran Almahafdha converted three seven-metre penalties to help keep Bahrain in front, before Hasan Saif struck from centre back to make it 13-12.
Iran levelled once more, but Mohamed Marzooq finished a fast break in the closing seconds to send Bahrain into the interval 14-13 ahead.
The youngsters carried that momentum into the second half as Saif struck from centre back and Mahmood Ahmed followed with a long-range effort to stretch their advantage to 16-13.
Ahmed then converted on the fast break to make it 17-14, but Iran refused to go away and eventually restored parity at 18-18 in the 42nd minute, setting up a tense final stretch.
The Warriors responded superbly.
Ahmed put them back in front with a strike from the left wing before Mahdi Ali scored twice on breakthroughs to help establish a 21-19 advantage. Marzooq then struck from the left wing to make it 22-20, before Ali converted a seven-metre penalty to stretch the gap to three with four minutes remaining.
Bahrain goalkeeper Ali Almahroos also played a key role in keeping Iran at bay, finishing the contest with 12 saves from 33 shots. His performance earned him the Man of the Match award.
Almahroos produced another important stop in the 57th minute before Ahmed Abdulla found an empty net from long range to make it 24-20 with two minutes remaining.
Abdulla then struck again, this time on a breakthrough, before Ali put the result beyond doubt with another breakthrough goal for Bahrain’s 26th in the final minute. Iran managed a final consolation before the buzzer.
Four Bahrain players shared the scoring honours with four goals apiece. Almuhafda and Almahafdha were joined by Ahmed and Ali on four, while Saif contributed three.
Marzooq, Abdulla and Ali Hasan each added two goals, with Hussain Abadi also on the scoresheet.
Iran’s Shayan Sousani was the game’s leading scorer with eight goals.
The victory extends an impressive tournament for the nationals, who progressed through preliminary-round action unbeaten before defeating Saudi Arabia 30-28 in their quarter-final to reach the last four and secure a seventh appearance at next year’s youth world championship.
Tomorrow’s final-day programme begins with hosts Jordan facing Uzbekistan in the seventh-place play-off at noon, followed by Kuwait against Saudi Arabia for fifth place at 2pm.
South Korea and Iran will contest the bronze medal match at 4pm, before Bahrain and Qatar bring the championship to a close with the gold medal showdown at 6pm.
That final will conclude Bahrain’s 10th continental championship appearance, with the kingdom now one victory away from adding to their titles won in 2016 and 2018.
Related Posts