BAHRAIN outclassed South Korea 27-25 yesterday to book their slot in the semi-finals of the handball tournament at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.
Yesterday’s win was their second in a row in Group Two of the main round. Bahrain had beaten Iran in their opening fixture.
The Bahrainis top the group with four points and will be looking to sweep their division with a win over Hong Kong in their final game tomorrow.
In yesterday’s other game in Group Two, Iran thrashed Hong Kong 46-20.
Mammoth
Bahrain, coached by Aron Kristjansson from Iceland, pulled off a mammoth task yesterday, beating one of the favourites South Korea who were the silver-medallists at the previous edition in 2014 in Incheon, Souht Korea, where Bahrain were the bronze medal winners. They are now on the right track to register a better finish.
Bahrain were in control of yesterday’s contest from the very start. They took a quick 3-0 lead with goals from skipper Hussain Al Sayyad, Bilal Askani and Hasan Alsamahiji.
Bahrain later stretched it to 10-4 midway through the first-half before the Koraens fought back and got to within two goals, 11-13, heading into the break.
In the second period, Bahrain maintained a slim advantage in the first several minutes but their rivals continued to chip away at the lead before tying the proceedings at 15-apiece with a Ciyeol Yoon goal from nine metres.
That woke up the Bahrainis and they strung together three unanswered goals, including two from Askani, one on either side of an Ali Merza effort.
The rally put Bahrain in the driver’s seat for good, and they went up by as many as five goals before the final whistle. Bahrain enjoyed a 27-22 lead following an Alsamahiji fast break with only four minutes to play.
The Koreans closed the game strongly with three unanswered goals of their own, but it did not have any impact on the final outcome.
Al Sayyad scored an impressive eight goals while Askani and Alsamahiji finished with four apiece and Merza added three. Mohamed Merza, Mohamed Ahmed and Ali Salman scored two goals each while Bahrain’s other scorers were Hasan Al Fardan and Mahmood Abdulqader with a goal apiece.
Bahrain goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain finished the game with 11 saves.
Yoon was Korea’s top scorer with seven goals while Hyeonsik Lee and Doyeop Hwang contributed four each.
Yesterday’s loss was the first for the Koreans at this year’s Asian Games.
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