BAHRAIN claimed a vital 28-26 win against UAE in the 17th Asian Handball Championship at Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town yesterday.
The third round match in Group B, which includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Lebanon, saw Bahrain set pace in one of their toughest encounters of the tournament.
Jassim Al Salatna made good use of a fast break to give Bahrain the opener.
Both teams outsmarted each other in the first 10 minutes of the game and UAE went on to take the lead for the first time when they went up 3-2 from a 9-metre shot by Abdulla Al Balooshi.
However, Bahrain quickly managed to draw level as Al Salatna once again was the man of the moment with an incredible shot.
Bahrain supporters filled the stands once again and started whistling every time the UAE held possession, prompting officials to complain to the organising committee.
The match restarted quickly and soon Abdulla Al Blooshi and Shehab Al Balooshi took the UAE to a two-goal lead.
UAE’s Faisal Al Balooshi was given the first two minutes’ suspension and Bahrain was awarded a penalty which was saved by the UAE goalkeeper Abdulrahman Khamis.
Bahrain were soon awarded a second penalty which Mohammed Habib scored from to draw the level 7-7.
UAE’s Mohammed Hassan Al Balooshi was shown the red card to end his game time for the day.
Hussian Ali, Mahdi Saad and Habib all managed to get their names on the score sheet during the last 10 minutes of the game to give Bahrain the lead again.
Bahrain managed to keep hold of the lead till the end of the first half with a score of 16-13.
The second half saw Bahrain score first again through Habib. As UAE tried to get themselves back into the game, Bahrain’s defence stood tall and strong.
Bahrain missed a second penalty through Habib who quickly made up for the lapse by scoring in the following minute to take Bahrain to 18-14.
Goals from UAE’s Abdulla Al Balooshi, Faisal Al Balooshi, and Shehab Al Balooshi saw them tighten the gap, but Bahrain quickly responded through Al Salatna, Jaafar Abdulqader and Sadeq Ali.
UAE’s closest moment of the game came five minutes before the end of the time as they managed to pull Bahrain’s lead to a one-goal difference.
Bahrain’s Mohamed Husain however pulled off an astonishing save as Shehab Al Balooshi saw his efforts go waste to draw for the UAE.
Bahrain were awarded two penalties which were scored by Saad. UAE ‘s Essa Al Bannai only scored one for his team to end the game at 28-26.
In other Group B matches, Iran beat China 36-18 after ending the first half 17-10 while Saudi found no difficulty in beating Lebanon 32-13 after taking a first half lead of 16-4.
Bahrain’s win see them go top with six points after three games with a goal difference of +48 while Saudi Arabia sit in second place with five points and a goal difference of +24.
Iran are in third place with four points and a goal difference of +18 and a point over UAE who sit in fourth place with a goal difference of +2. China and Lebanon come in fifth and sixth places with a goal difference of -45 and -47 respectively.
The third round Group A matches will be played today. Qatar will face Japan at 4pm while Oman play against Syria at 6pm at Khalifa Sports City in Isa Town.
The tournament, hosted by Bahrain for the second consecutive time, also serves as a qualifier to the World Championships in France next January.
World runners-up Qatar along with the top four teams will represent Asia at the World Championship.