Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship:
Iran beaten by Bahrain, misses out on world spot
Iran suffered a 31-24 defeat to Bahrain in the quarterfinals of the Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship in Chuzhou, China.
Failing to reach the last four also meant Keyvan Sadeqi’s men missed out on a continental berth at the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior (U21) World Championship in North Macedonia.
Ahmed Eid led Bahrain – winner of two bronze medals in the previous three editions – with eight goals, while Ali Abbas added seven. Amirhossein Karami was Iran’s top scorer with seven goals, followed by Omid Enayatijoo with four.
The defeat came as a bitter blow for the Iranian team, which had produced impressive performances to advance from a daunting Group B featuring two-time defending champion Japan, 2024 runner-up South Korea, five-time champion Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and India.
Iran got off to a flying start by defeating Kuwait 29-27 before suffering a narrow 29-28 defeat to South Korea and sharing the spoils with the UAE in a 25-25 draw.
Iran then returned to winning ways with a 26-25 victory over Qatar but suffered another heartbreaking defeat, losing 28-27 to Japan, before concluding the group stage with a commanding 63-14 victory over India on Tuesday.
Iran will now look to emulate its fifth-place finish from the 2024 edition, beginning with a 5th-8th classification match against the loser of the quarterfinal between South Korea and Chinese Taipei later on Friday at Chuzhou International Handball Hall.
In the other quarterfinal on Friday, Group B winner the UAE defeated China 37-28 to advance.