Gulf Club handball in Bahrain postponed

MUSCAT, MARCH 10
The participation of Oman Club in the 42nd edition of the Gulf Club Handball Championship in Bahrain has been postponed until further notice. The tournament was originally scheduled to take place from March 23 to April 1 in Bahrain.
However, the organising committee, represented by the Bahrain Handball Federation, announced that the championship has been postponed due to the current security situation in the region. In an official statement, the federation confirmed that a new date for the tournament will be determined after consultations with the relevant Gulf handball federations.
In a related development, the Asian Handball Federation also announced the postponement of several training courses that were scheduled to be held during March and April in Lebanon, Syria, Qatar, and Jordan, citing the same reasons related to the prevailing security situation in the region.
Oman Club, under technical guidance of experienced coach Ibrahim Bodrali, had ended their domestic campaign at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth’s handball Shield tournament as runners-up following their 31-34 loss against Al Amerat in the final match which was played on February 17. The team is currently competing at the top-tier handball league and they managed to win against Nizwa by 33-21 in the third round.
Oman Club had hosted the previous edition, the 41st Gulf Club Handball Championship in Muscat in February last year. Qatar’s Al Arabi had lifted the title after defeating Kuwait SC 33-32 in the final clash. Qatar’s Al Rayyan club had won against Al Noor club from Saudi Arabia 39-21 in the bronze-medal playoff match.
The hosts, Oman Club, had finished in fifth place as they had finished their fifth and sixth playoff with a 32-27 victory over Dibba Al Hisn from UAE while Oman’s other representative Seeb ended seventh in the tournament as they had received a 34-26 loss against Dibba Al Hisn in the concluding game.