Bahrain Rout Kazakhstan in Opener

Reigning Asian champions turn attention to today’s Iran test

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain made an emphatic start to their men’s handball campaign at the 20th Asian Games, sweeping aside Kazakhstan 43-20 in their opening Group B match at ENTRIO, Toyoda Gosei Memorial Gymnasium, yesterday.

Iran, South Korea and Kuwait complete the five-team group.

Once play began, the Bahrainis quickly seized control and raced into a 3-0 lead before the Kazakhs registered their first goal.

Robert Hedin’s side were still only two ahead at 7-5 but dominated the remainder of the first half, outscoring their opponents 13-3 to establish a commanding 20-8 advantage at the interval.

That momentum continued after the restart as the reigning Asian champions added another 23 goals while conceding 12 to complete a comprehensive victory.

Salman Al Showaikh led the scoring with nine goals from 11 attempts, while Ahmed Fadhul struck six and Ahmed Kadhem added five.

Further support came from Ahmed Eid, Jassim Khamis and Hasan Ali, who contributed four apiece, while Mohammed Rabeea and Abdulla Abdulkarim each scored three.

Goalkeeper Ali Mohamed proved equally influential at the other end, saving 12 of the 20 shots he faced for an impressive 60 per cent success rate.

Beyond the scoreline, the performance continued a remarkable period for the Warriors, who secured three major titles in the space of seven months.

Their run began with Islamic Solidarity Games gold in Riyadh last November. Bahrain then captured their maiden Asian Men’s Handball Championship crown in Kuwait in January before triumphing at the GCC Games in Doha in May.

With the opening hurdle cleared, attention now turns to a considerably tougher test against Iran at 8.30am today.

South Korea and Kuwait begin their campaigns against each other at 11am in the group’s other fixture.

The nationals return to action against South Korea on Wednesday at 11.30am before completing the preliminary round against Kuwait on Friday at 7.30am.

Four teams will progress from Group B to the quarter-finals on September 26, leaving only the bottom side eliminated. The four last-eight matches will be played at Kasugai City Gymnasium, with throw-off times scheduled for 6am, 8am, 10am and noon.

Over in Group A, three-time defending champions Qatar opened with a 40-17 victory over Hong Kong, while hosts Japan defeated China 31-27. With only four teams in the group, all are guaranteed places in the knockout stage.

The semi-finals will be held at ENTRIO on September 28 at 9am and 11.30am. The bronze-medal match follows the next day at 11am, before the gold-medal contest begins at 1.30pm.

Bronze in 2014 and successive silver medals in 2018 and 2022 have left Bahrain chasing the first Asian Games handball title in their history.

All times are in Bahrain time.