HANDBALL – BARBAR were crowned champions last night of the 2025-26 Khalid Bin Hamad Bahrain Handball League.
Barbar secured the coveted title after battling past Al Ahli 28-26 in a thrilling and hotly contested final, played at a sold-out and rocking Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.
Late goals from Ahmed Ayyad and Ali Abdulqader helped their team secure the crown, while goalkeeper Issa Khalaf made a number of important saves throughout the match – none bigger than against Ahli’s Mohamed Rabia with less than a minute remaining that helped Barbar preserve their slim lead and eventually seal the game.
With the result, Barbar, coached by Bahraini tactician Hussam Madan, won the title for the seventh time in league history, ever since the inaugural season in 1974-75.
Their previous championship was in the 2018-19 campaign, when they emerged as back-to-back champions. They had also triumphed in the 2008-09, 2005-06, 2003-04, and the 2002-03 seasons.
In attendance during last night’s clash were General Sports Authority (GSA) vice-chairman and Bahrain Combat Sports Council president Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) vice-president Shaikh Isa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
Also on hand were BOC board member and Bahrain Table Tennis Association president Shaikha Hayat bint Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, GSA CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar, BOC board member and Bahrain Handball Federation (BHF) president Ali Issa Ishaqi, and other BHF officials.
They later presented the two finalists their respective trophies and medals in the awarding ceremony held post-game.
Barbar veterans Mahmood Abdulqader and Mohammed Almaqabi received the champions’ trophy on the team’s behalf.
Barbar were the heavy underdogs heading into the knockout stages of this season’s Khalid bin Hamad Bahrain Handball League, having barely squeezed into the Golden Square semi-finals as fourth seeds and facing off against favourites and last year’s champions Al Najma. But they came up big when it mattered most, sweeping their best-of-three series against Najma in two games to set up their clash last night with third-seeded Ahli, who outplayed Al Shabab in their Golden Square affair.
In the final, Barbar came out firing on all cylinders but after taking a 7-5 lead, conceded five unanswered goals to Ahli as they fell behind by three.
Barbar stayed resilient and goals from Moayed Shuaib and Abdulqader brought them back to within 10-11, but Bilal Basham scored for Ahli right before the half-time buzzer to head into the locker rooms up by two.
After the re-start, Barbar immediately roared back and another Shuaib strike levelled the contest at 16-apiece.
The two teams then traded jabs for most of the period as neither could pull away. Goals from Ahli’s Ali Mirza and Barbar’s Salman Al Showaikh made it 22-all, and then Ali Mahmoud and Shuaib were on target to keep things deadlocked.
Khalaf then made a game-changing stop against Ahli’s Abdulla Ali, and teammate Hussain Al Muhafdha scored from six metres to give Barbar the lead for good at 24-23.
Al Showaikh extended their advantage to 25-23 after firing in on a fastbreak, and after a Bashar Abdulla conversion for Ahli on the other end, Ayyad scored back-to-back goals – on either side of an Ali Eid effort – to make it 27-25.
Eid was then on target one last time for Ahli with a minute-and-a-half remaining to get back to within one, but Barbar sealed the crown with Abdulqader’s strike from the right wing and Khalaf’s game-ending save against Rabia.
Barbar and Ahli are joined in the top three of this season’s league by Shabab, who secured the bronze medals after Najma apologised to the BHF for not being able to compete in the game for third place.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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