The Handball Federation of Bahrain is currently hosting the V Asian Men’s Youth Championship. 12 teams in total competed in two preliminary round groups. Host Bahrain, Iran, Chinese Taipei, Syria and Uzbekistan met in group A, Japan, defending champions Qatar, Saudi-Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and Oman played in group B.
At the end of the preliminary round none of those teams could keep their clean sweep, as Bahrain and Korea in group A and Qatar and Japan in group B finished with four victories and one defeat each but made their way to the semi-finals.
In group A Bahrain won the clash against Korea 27:26, but sensationally lost against Chinese Taipei. In group B Qatar beat Japan 30:25, but lost their final match 25:26 against Saudi Arabia.
The final ranking of the preliminary round groups:
A: 1. Bahrain 8 points, 2. Korea 8 points, 3., Iran 6 points, 4. Syria 4 points, 5. Chinese Taipei 4 points, 6. Uzbekistan 0 points
B: 1. Qatar 8 points, 2. Japan 8 points, 3. Iraq 6 points, Saudi Arabia 6 points, Kuwait 2 points, Oman 0 points.
On Thursday, 13 September, the semi-finals Bahrain vs. Japan and Qatar vs. Korea will be played, additionally the placement round will start with the matches Chinese Taipei vs. Oman, Kuwait vs. Uzbekistan, Iran vs. Saudi Arabia and Iraq vs. Syria.
The two medallists of this competition will qualify for the 2013 Men’s Youth World Championship in Hungary.
