HANDBALL – BAHRAIN went down 32-23 to Tunisia last night in their second consecutive defeat in the four-nation France International Handball Tournament held in the western French city of Nantes.
This followed their 30-28 loss to Brazil last Thursday while hosts France beat Tunisia 35-26 in the tournament – which consisted of friendlies – the same day.
Both Bahrain and Tunisia took part in the tournament to prepare for their respective upcoming competitive championships – Tunisia are readying themselves for the African Handball Championship, qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, scheduled for January 19-29 in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
And Bahrain took a 22-member squad to Nantes to prepare for the 16-team 2024 Asian Men’s Handball Championship – the 21st edition of the tournament – which will be held in the kingdom from Thursday to January 25.
“We needed to prepare well for the Asian Championship and this tournament served as good preparation,” Bahrain head coach Aron Kristjansson told the GDN by phone from Nantes.
“We were up against some strong teams so, despite the two losses, we have only benefited from this experience.
“We brought 22 players with us because we had some players who were coming back from injury and some who were injured and have recovered but haven’t had any game time recently so it was good for them to be able to get some minutes in their legs.”
The squad will now head back to Bahrain tomorrow with the two matches in Nantes bringing the total number of friendlies the team has played over the past month or so to six, Kristjansson added.
“We played two games against Iraq and won both,” he said.
“We also won both the games we played against Morocco. So we were very positive coming into this tournament but, in the first game against Brazil, we played very badly in the first half. We fought back well in the second but Brazil still managed to pip us at the end.
“We also started badly against Tunisia and allowed them to lead 15-11 at half-time. But, unlike the first game, we were unable to make a comeback in the second half.
“But, all said and done, since this was a tough tournament and we were up against some strong teams, we have gained some valuable experience and some invaluable game time as we head back to Bahrain for the Asian Championship.”
Bahrain have been placed in Group D in the tournament along with Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and the UAE.
The kingdom’s team will play their first game against Kazakhstan on Thursday at the Shaikh Khalifa Sports City Hall.
Bahrain will then take on Hong Kong on Saturday and the UAE on January 15, with both matches taking place at the same venue.
This is the fourth time the kingdom is hosting the Asian Championship. The previous three occasions were in 1993, 2014 and 2016.
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