HANDBALL – Bahrain made a winning start last night to their President’s Cup campaign in 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.
The Bahrainis showed their class in a resounding 39-26 victory over Cuba in their Group II affair, played at Porec Zatika Arena in Porec, Croatia.
The nationals built a big lead early and never let up. A Jassim Khamis goal made it 4-1 after the opening 10 minutes and later Mujtaba Al Zaimour converted from the centre back to put Bahrain ahead 10-5. The Cubans narrowed the gap to 10-12 with five minutes to go in the half, but the Bahrainis responded well and a goal from Ali Redha right before the break made it 17-12 heading into the locker rooms.
After the re-start, the nationals asserted their dominance, and an Al Zaimour goal 10 minutes in gave them their first double-digit lead of the night at 25-15. Bahrain did well to maintain the comfortable margin until the final buzzer, sealing their big win.
Al Zaimour was their leading scorer with six goals, while Qassim Qambar added five. Khamis and Hussain Abdulla chipped in with four goals apiece, while five players contributed three goals each, including Ahmed Redha, Abdulla Abdulkarim, Mohammed Habib Ahmed, Mohammed Habib Nasser, and Ali Redha.
For the Cubans, Ronaldo Hiriam Duquezne, Claudio Leandro Madrigal, and Dariel Garcia Rivera each finished with four goals.
In yesterday’s other Group II contest in the President’s Cup, the US edged past Japan 27-25 at the same venue.
Bahrain are back in action tomorrow when they face off with familiar rivals Japan in an all-Asian affair, scheduled for a 5.30pm start. They then go up against the Americans on Sunday at 8pm. Both times are Bahrain, and both games will be played at Porec Zatika Arena.
Group I features Poland, Algeria, Kuwait, and Guinea.
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.
They are competing in the worlds’ lower tier for the first time since 2019, having made 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.
The Bahrainis are coached by Aron Kristjansson of Iceland. Their ranking in Group II at the end of the President’s Cup round-robin will determine their opponents in their final placement match. The first-placed squads will play for 25th overall, the second-placed for 27th, the third-placed for 29th, and the fourth-placed will compete for 31st on the tournament-ending classification.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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