Bahrain eye handball semi finals

Bahrain will look to reach the handball semi-finals in the 18th Asian Games, being held in Jakarta/Palembang, today when they face highly-favoured South Korea today.

This quarter-final clash is set for 10am (Bahrain time) at GOR Popki Cibubur sports hall, where the nationals hope to make it to the competition’s final four and secure a medal at the games. Despite missing two key players in their previous match against Iran after having captain Hussain Al Sayyad and Hasan Madan dismissed since the firsthalf, the Bahrainis dominated most of their game and emerged winners by a seven-goal margin to ensure themselves a place in the knock-out round.

Bahrain’s head coach Aron Kristjánsson, who was appointed just before the games, is expected to introduce the same group of players who masterminded all Bahrain’s wins in the previous stages. The Icelandic coach will again rely on his goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain, who made crucial saves in the match against Iran, in addition to his defence Hasan Madan, Mohammed Abdulreda, Ali Mirtzsa and Mohammed Habib, while skipper Al Sayyad is expected to lead Bahrain’s attach.