Asian junior handball battles set get underway today

TDT | Manama                                                 

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The 17th Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship gets underway today in the Kingdom with eight nations from across the continent taking part. Two matches are scheduled for this evening’s first action. Hosts Bahrain take on Pakistan in the main game at 6pm, while Japan and India face off in the early fixture starting at 4pm.

Both contests are in Group B of the competition’s preliminary round. Group A consists of South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait. All games are set to be held at the Khalifa Sports City arena in Isa Town. Entry is free for fans wishing to attend the matches and support the various national teams.

Following their game today, the Bahrainis then take on India on Sunday, before facing off with Japan on Tuesday next week. At the end of a single round-robin in this preliminary phase, the top two teams from each group advance to the semi-finals, while the bottom two sides play in the main round to determine their final classification.

Those games are scheduled for Friday next week. The last placement matches are then scheduled for July 23, and then the gold and bronze medal contests are scheduled for the following night.

Bahrain head to the competition with an 18-player roster that includes Hisham Ahmed Issa, Ali Jamil Mirza, Ali Ahmed Al Madani, Ali Radhi Al Ashiri, Ahmed Abdulameer Al Zain, Mahmood Basem Al Khunaizi, Hassan Khalil Ali, Kamil Fouad, Mohammed Hameed Rabie, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Ahmed Redha Salem, Ahmed Hussain Alwani, Hussain Ali Saleh, Jassim Ali Khamis, Mustafa Issa Al Hayki, Ali Mahmood Mohammed, Jaafar Abdulshaheed and Ali Abdulkarim Mohammed.

They are coached by Bahraini tactician Adel Al Sabea. The Bahrainis have won the Asian title once in the past in 1998 when the event was also held in the Kingdom. The Asian junior competition also acts as a qualification event for the International Handball Federation (IHF) Men’s Junior World Championship, with the top four teams directly qualifying.