HANDBALL – Bahrain edged past Algeria 29-26 last night to claim 29th place overall to wrap up their participation in the 2025 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship.
The nationals trailed 17-18 at the break but stepped it up in the second half, taking the lead for good with an Ali Eid penalty that made it 19-18. They held on from there.
The Algerians stayed within striking distance the rest of the way and got within a goal on multiple occasions, but came no closer.
Another Eid penalty made it 28-24 with less than five minutes remaining to virtually ice the victory for Bahrain.
Goalkeeper Hesham Ahmed was named the Player of the Match for the nationals. He received a prize after the game for his performance.
The result earned Bahrain a positive ending to this year’s worlds but 29th is their lowest-ever classification in six appearances in the biennial tournament.
Their previous worst was 23rd, which were in the 2011 and 2017 events, which both featured just 24 teams. This year’s tournament has 32 nations.
Mohammed Habib Nasser converted nine goals to spearhead the kingdom’s senior men’s squad last night. Eid finished with seven, while two players chipped in with three goals apiece, including Qassim Qambar and Jassim Khamis.
Ahmed Redha and Mujtaba Al Zaimour had two goals each in the win.
For the Algerians, four players scored four goals each, including Zouhir Naim, Redouane Saker, Elyas Ouissane Yannis Bouadjadja, and Bastien Jean Khermouche.
The Algerians placed 30th amongst the 32 teams.
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