HANDBALL – Bahrain's senior men’s handball national team have travelled to Doha to play an international friendly match with Qatar today.
The game is part of the Bahrainis’ final preparations for the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship, which is scheduled to take place from January 14 to February 2, co-hosted by Croatia, Denmark, and Norway.
The worlds will bring together 32 of the top senior men’s squads from five confederations.
The Bahrainis are set to return to the kingdom after their tune-up and then depart for Copenhagen for a training camp in the final lead-up to the worlds. There, they will play the European giants and three-time world champions in two friendly matches, scheduled for Thursday and Friday next week.
Bahrain head coach Aron Kristjansson has selected an 18-player squad for their match in the Qatari capital. The roster includes Mohammed Mirza, Mohammed Abdulhussain, Hassan Al Samaheeji, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Abdulla Al Zaimour, and Mujtaba Al Zaimour from Al Najma; Ahmed Redha, Jassim Khamis, Abdulla Abdulkarim from defending national champions Al Shabab; Ali Eid, Qassim Qambar, and Mohammed Hameed from Al Ahli; Ali Al Asheeri, Hesham Ahmed, and Hussain Abdulla from Al Dair; Ali Reza from Tadhamun; Sayed Mahmood Al Falahi from Tubli; and Mohammed Habib Nasser from Khaleej Club in Saudi Arabia.
Following their stint in the Danish capital, the Bahrainis will then travel to the Croatian capital of Zagreb, which will be hosting their pool in the worlds’ preliminary round.
Bahrain are in Group H along with Egypt, Argentina, and co-hosts Croatia. They kick off their tournament campaign on January 15 against the home team, and then take on Egypt on January 17. They complete the opening round against Argentina on January 19.
There are eight groups of four teams apiece in all in the preliminaries. At the end of a single round-robin, the top three move on to the main round, while the bottom squads play for the President’s Cup.
This year’s tournament marks the sixth time Bahrain are participating in global handball’s premier event. The nationals first took part in 2011, and then have not missed the worlds since 2017. Their best finish in the competition so far was 16th in 2023.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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