HANDBALL – Bahrain's senior men’s handball national team take on Cuba today in their opening President’s Cup clash of the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship.
The President’s Cup is the lower-tier competition of the worlds, which will determine places 25th to 32nd on the overall final classification.
It is being contested by the eight national teams that did not make it through to the tournament’s main round from the preliminaries.
Bahrain are in Group II of the President’s Cup along with the US, Japan, and Cuba, while Group I features Poland, Algeria, Kuwait, and Guinea.
The nationals open their campaign this evening against the Cubans at 5.30pm. They then take on familiar foes Japan on Friday at the same time, before playing the US on Sunday at 8pm. All times are Bahrain, and the three games will take place at Porec Zatika Arena in Porec, Croatia.
Bahrain dropped to the President’s Cup after losing all three of their matches in Group H of the preliminaries against the co-host Croatians, Egypt, and Argentina.
This year’s event marks the first time the nationals are competing in the worlds’ lower tier after making it through to the main phase in the last two editions in 2023 and 2021. Bahrain’s best finish was in the previous competition in 2023, when they ranked an impressive 16th overall.
Coached by Aron Kristjansson, the Bahrainis competing in Croatia include Mohammed Abdulhussain, Mohammed Habib Nasser, Hassan Al Samaheeji, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Mohammed Mirza, Ali Eid, Mujtaba Al Zaimour, Qassim Qambar, Hesham Ahmed, and Abdulla Al Zaimour, and eight tournament debutants in Jassim Khamis, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Mahmood Al Falahi, Mohammed Hameed, Ali Redha, Ahmed Redha, Hussain Abdulla, and Ali Al Asheeri.
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