Najma set for Gulf, Asian clubs handball events

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain champions Al Najma are set to fly the Kingdom’s flag in back-to-back major competitions in the coming weeks.

Najma is first set to compete in the 38th Gulf Clubs Men’s Handball Championship in Kuwait which starts today, and then from June 22 to 30 will play in the 24th Asian Men’s Club League Championship in Hyderabad, India.

The Bahrainis are in Group B for the Gulf event alongside Mudhar of Saudi Arabia and Al Salmiya of Kuwait.

Group A comprises Al Kuwait SC, Muscat from Oman, Al Jazeera from the UAE and Al Ahly from Qatar.

Today is the first day of action but Najma is only scheduled to take to the playing court in their opening game on Monday.

They play Mudhar then and then face off with Salmiya the following evening.

The top two teams at the end of a single round-robin will march through to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, for the Asian club's competition later this month, the Bahrainis have been drawn into Group B along with Al Kuwait of Kuwait, Al Safa of Saudi, Mes Kerman of Iran and Al Wakra of Qatar.

Group A consists of just four teams, including Al Noor of Saudi, Al Qadsia of Kuwait, Al Arabi of Qatar and T Sports Club of hosts India.

Najma play their first game of the competition on June 22 against Safa.

They then face off with Kuwait the following day, before playing Mes Kerman on June 24. Their final group fixture will then be on June 26 against Wakra.

The top two teams from both groups move on to the last four, while the next two play in the consolation round for their final classification.

Al Duhail Club of Qatar is the reigning champion of the competition, which also acts as a qualifying event for the International Handball Federation (IHF) Super Globe Najma has won the Asian club's title once in the past, in 2017.

In the previous edition of the competition, they finished fourth after a narrow loss in the bronze medal contest.

Najma has been preparing for the two events locally