Bahrain beat Japan to clinch second Asian handball title

Amman, Sept. 27 (BNA): Bahrain were last night crowned back-to-back champions in the eighth Asian Men’s Youth (U-18) Handball Championship, which concluded here yesterday, Gulf Daily News (GDN) reported. The Bahrainis clinched the prestigious title after beating their counterparts from Japan 34-31 in the final, played at Princess Sumaya Hall. It was their second gold medal in a row in the prestigious biennial competition, as yesterday’s final was a re-match of the previous event’s title-decider in 2016 when the event was held in Bahrain. Moayed Shuaib and Qasim Qambar came up big for Bahrain in the final, as each scored eight goals to spearhead their squad. Hiroto Shimizu was the top scorer for the Japanese with seven goals. The Bahrainis held a slim 17-16 lead at the end of the first half, and did just enough to put their opponents away in the final 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Chinese-Taipei claimed the bronze medals after defeating Saudi Arabia 29-26 in the game for third place.