Bahrain in Asian handball semis

Jakarta, Aug.24 (BNA): Bahrain defeated Asian giants South Korea 27-25 to book their berth in the handball championship semifinals at the 18th Asian Games, being held in Jakarta/Palembang. Goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhusain was hero of the match for Bahrain with some outstanding saves that kept the national team in the lead for much of the game, while Hussain Al Sayyad starred in the offensive side scoring 8 goals to become the match top scorer. Playing at Gor Popki Cibubur Sports Hall, the Bahrainis ended the first-half in the lead by a two-goal margin (13-11). Bahrain, who started their campaign in this four-nation round robin stage with a seven-goal margin win over Iran, will now take on Hong Kong in the concluding game to ensure their top spot before heading to the semi-finals. The team was congratulated after the game by Bahrain ambassador to Indonesia Dr Mohammed Ghassan Shaikho and Supreme Council for Youth and Sports assistant secretary general and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) secretary general Abdulrahman Askar and delegation chef de mission Bader Nasser. Elsewhere, Bahrain’s national bowling team will begin their title race at the bowling championships today when they compete in the trio event starting at 5am (Bahrain time) and over two sessions. The team is coached by Masaud Sabery and includes key bowling players, led by Yousf Falah. In shooting, Safa Al Dossary and Sara Al Dossary were out of the 50m 3 positions rifle qualifying event after failing to reach the medal stages. Safa ended with 1,145 points, her personal best record, while Sara managed 1,122 total. Bahrain’s shooting team sign off tomorrow when Mahmood Haji takes part in the 3,000m final, where only 13 shooters are in the fray. Meanwhile, a technical fault with her bike forced Bahraini rider Razan Sabooh to withdraw from the 100km road race at Subang Roads Route. Razan hopes to make a strong comeback today (Friday) in the anti-clockwise race, which is over 19km.