Bahrain extended their winning streak to four games and qualified for the semi-finals of the handball competition in the 19th Asian Games as they beat Iran 29-20 in their second Group 1 main round match yesterday in Hangzhou, China.
The kingdom’s team now lead the four-team table with four points, ahead of Kuwait – whom they will play today in a battle to decide which team tops the group – who also have four points but are in second place because of goal difference.
“It was a good victory,” Bahrain head coach Aron Kristjansson told the GDN by phone from Hangzhou.
“It was a convincing win.”
The game started at a sedate pace as both teams sized each other up warily and concentrated on defence with the scoreboard reading 1-1 after five minutes of play in the first half.
At the 15-minute mark, the score was still tied, this time at 4-4 with neither side willing to give an inch.
And, after 20 minutes, the scoreboard showed the two teams level again, at 6-6.
Then, slowly, Bahrain began to edge ahead, first through two consecutive Mohamed Habib goals followed by a successful attempt by Mahdi Abdulla and a stunning goal by Husain Alsayyad.
Suddenly, with just five minutes left until half-time, Bahrain were leading by four goals, at 10-6, and had begun to display better energy on court.
The first half eventually ended with Bahrain leading 12-7.
“We had a tough first half,” Kristjansson explained.
“It was a close contest with both teams focusing on defence. But we managed to get a five-goal lead, which gave us a bit of momentum going into the second half.”
During the break, Kristjansson decided to change strategy for the second half.
“We were ahead so we needed to preserve that lead,” he said.
“So I changed the line-up to a 5-1 defence.”
The tactic worked as, 15 minutes into the second half, Bahrain found themselves leading by 11 goals, at 22-11.
Fight
But Iran were not about to give up the fight that easily.
Over the next five minutes, they managed to score four goals while Bahrain managed only two with the scoreboard showing the kingdom’s team leading 24-15 and ten minutes left in the match.
The sturdy Ali Eid then scored two goals inside two minutes but the Iranians added three in the next three minutes with Shahab Sadeghzadeh (twice) and Mohammedmahdi Behnamnia getting their names in the scoresheets.
Iran were now just eight goals adrift, at 18-26, and they must have fancied their chances of being able to go for a come-from-behind win. But they were running out of time fast with just four-and-a-half minutes left on the clock.
Unfortunately for the Iranians, Mohamed Rabia, Qasim Qamber and Mahdi Abdulla scored a goal apiece in the remaining time to push Bahrain even further ahead with Mehran Rahnama and Sadeghzadeh managing to add two more goals to Iran’s tally before the final buzzer sounded.
“We were much better in the second half,” Kristjansson said.
“We had a better flow to our attack which is why we managed to score 17 goals in those last 30 minutes. We were good in both defence and offence and our fast breaks were also working very well.
“Most importantly, we were able to use more players in the second half, which means all our players got some game time and some got the chance to rest as well.
“We’ve had a very hectic schedule – our match against Kuwait today will be the third we’ll have played in three consecutive days – so it was important to ensure our key players got some respite against Iran.”
Kuwait, who, like Bahrain, are undefeated in the tournament, having won both their preliminary round Group A matches and their first two main round games, would be tough opponents, Kristjansson warned.
“It’s going to be a tough game, as it always is against Kuwait,” he added.
“Both teams have already qualified for the semi-finals but both also want to win this encounter with the victorious side going through to the last-four stage as the table-topper from our group.”
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