Bahrain National Handball team honoured

Manama, Nov.28 (BNA): Bahrain’s national handball team was given a warm welcome on return from Doha after coming third at the recently-concluded Asian Championship qualifiers. The tournament also served as qualifiers for the next year’sOlympic Games to be held at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. After going down to Iran 30-35 in the semi-final match, Bahrain revived their Olympics chances with a precious 34-21 victory over South Korea in the third-place match. Bahrain willnow play in the playoff tournament against three other teams from around the world, while Qatar booked its ticket to Rio with a 19-28 win over Iran in the final. Iran also progressed through to next year's World Qualification Tournament. The team delegation, headed by Bahrain Handball Association (BHA) president Isa Isaaqi, were greeted on return by Bahrain Olympic Committee general secretary Abdulrahman Askar, along with BHA vice-president DrAbdulghani Al Shuwaikh and other board members. Askar congratulated the team on their results and wished them success in the deciding playoff tournament. The handball tournament at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will consist of twelve men and women teams each.