Bahrain started their campaign in the Asian Men’s Handball Qualification Tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics in grand style as they beat Kazakhstan 46-18 in their first Group B game in Doha, Qatar, yesterday.
The result of the match was never in doubt once Bahrain raced to a commanding 23-6 lead by half-time with the only question, as the second half got underway, being how big their victory margin was going to be.
“It was good to have a big victory today,” Bahrain head coach Aron Kristjansson told the GDN by phone from Doha.
“More importantly, we were able to use all our young players in the match so all of them managed to get some good game time. It was good for them because they got to show they could deliver against a strong team like Kazakhstan and contribute to our convincing victory.”
Bahrain started aggressively and led 8-3 after the first 10 minutes of the game with Hasan Alsamahiji (three goals), Ahmed Fadhul (two), Alzaimoo Mujtaba (two) and Mohammed Habib (one) all getting their names up on the scoreboard.
After 20 minutes, Bahrain had increased their lead to 11 goals, at 16-5, with Ali Merza, Mohammed Naser and Ahmed Kadhem contributing to the growing tally along with Fadhul and Alsamahiji, who were seemingly scoring goals at will.
By the time, the first half ended with Bahrain leading by 17 goals, at 23-6, the Kazakhs were already looking deflated.
But there was to be no respite for them as the second half began with Bahrain continuing their assaults on goal and scoring with regular frequency with the scoreboard showing the kingdom’s team leading 29-10, and just 20 minutes to go in the game.
Hasan Madan, Qasim Qambar and Hasan Mirza had also joined the list of goal-scorers by then and, over the next 10 minutes, Ali Eid and Mohammed Rabia joined them as well with the scoreboard showing Bahrain leading 38-15, with only 10 minutes left on the clock.
Kazakhstan managed only three more goals in that time while Bahrain scored eight more to wrap up a truly resounding victory.
“Like I said, good to start the tournament with a big win,” Kristjansson said.
“Also, it’s good to have Mujtaba back – he wasn’t fit for the Asian Games but managed to recover and join us for this tournament. And Ahmed Redha was outstanding in defence which was great because Mohammed Redha couldn’t be with us for this tournament due to personal reasons. Ahmed came in early and played a strong game.”
The Bahraini players’ celebration after the victory was a very brief one because they started training for today’s important match with Japan after taking a short break, Kristjansson said.
“This is a very important game and we will be pressed hard by Japan,” he added.
“They looked very strong against Iran in their opening game and they have four or five professional players – who turn out for clubs in the European leagues – who joined them for this competition.”
Worryingly, there were a few injury concerns in the Bahrain camp, Kristjansson continued, but the squad’s medical team was working hard to get the players match-fit.
“We’ll see how they are just before the game,” he said.
“But, come what may, we are ready to take up the challenge against Japan.”
After one round of matches, Bahrain are first in the five-team table with two points, ahead of Japan, who defeated Iran, 25-20, in the other Group B match yesterday, who also have two points but are in second place because of goal difference.
Kuwait, the fifth team in the group, are yet to play a game.
Group A features South Korea, Saudi Arabia, India, China, the UAE and hosts Qatar.
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