Bahrain bow to Spaniards

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain suffered a tough 27-39 loss to hosts Spain last night in their opening match of their Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT), which kicked off in the Spanish city of Granollers. The Bahrainis had a rough start but put in a valiant effort over the rest of the game as they began their quest to claim one of the two available spots from this qualification competition in this summer’s Paris Olympics 2024.

It is one of three OQTs being held in separate venues, and they will complete the 12-nation field for the men’s handball tournament at the upcoming Olympiad. Bahrain are hoping to qualify for the Olympic Games for the second straight edition and for only their second time in history.

The nationals need to finish in the top two of their OQT to earn a berth. The Bahrainis are back in action tonight when they hope to bounce back against South American giants Brazil at 8.30pm, Bahrain time. They then complete their OQT when they take on Slovenia on Sunday at 5.15pm, Bahrain.

The Bahrainis were rusty coming out of the gate last night as Spain’s lockdown defence and the strong play of goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales helped them take a commanding 9-2 lead. But the nationals gradually got into their groove, and led by the impressive showing of Mohammed Habib Naser and Ali Eid, were able to fight back to within 7-13 before trailing 11-18 at the break.

Behind

In the final 30 minutes, the Bahrainis fell behind by double digits, 16-26. They clawed back with three straight stops and conversions, but lost their momentum with a couple of turnovers that led to fast-breaks for Spain, who later enjoyed their biggest lead of 14, 37-23, enroute to closing out the contest.

Eid finished as Bahrain’s leading scorer with seven goals. Naser contributed five while both Hasan Madan and Mujtaba Al Zaimour each scored three. For Spain, Daniel Fernandez Jimenez paced his team with eight goals, and was later named Player of the Match.

Six teams have already booked their tickets to the French capital, including hosts France, reigning world champions Denmark, Asian Men’s Qualification Tournament winners Japan, Pan American Games winners Argentina, European champions Sweden, and African champions Egypt.

The Bahrainis narrowly missed out on direct qualification after losing to the Japanese 29-32 in the final of their continental qualifiers held last October in Doha. They had qualified for the last Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 with their historic victory in the Asian Men’s Qualification event in 2019, also held in Doha.

It was not only the national team’s first time competing in the men’s handball tournament at any Olympics, but it was also the Kingdom’s maiden appearance in any team sport in the history of the quadrennial sporting showcase.