Over 5.400 young athletes from 70 delegations took part in the 17th ISF Gymnasiade, which took place in Manama, Bahrain, between 23 and 31 October. 26 sports were represented, including handball, with six boys’ teams and five girls’ teams taking part in the competition.

The handball competition at the 17th ISF Gymnasiade saw the teams participating in the boys’ competition split into two preliminary round groups, with teams from three continents – Africa, Asia and Europe – competing for the first two places in each group, which progressed to the semi-finals.

In Group A, Bahrain A swept their opponents, Bulgaria and Benin, taking two clear wins, 31:15 against Bulgaria and 34:14 against Benin, with the European side closely following suit into the second place, clinching a hard-fought 25:23 win over Benin.

In Group B, France had a tougher outing, but still got four points via two wins, clinching a 21:20 win over Saudi Arabia and a 27:20 win over Bahrain B. The second place was sealed by Saudi Arabia, which took a 23:15 win over Bahrain B.

The two semi-finals saw the hosts, Bahrain A, and France extend their winning streaks to three matches. The Asian derby between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was easily clinched by the hosts, 28:19, while France dominated Bulgaria, 32:27, to seal their place in the final.

There, France had no issues to clinch the title, with a clear 29:21 win, where Robin Lacanal scored nine goals, proving to be unstoppable by the Bahrain defence. The Asian side’s top scorer was Mohamed Tarada, with six goals.

In the bronze medal match, Saudi Arabia secured their second win in the competition and the last place on the podium, with a totally dominating performance against Bulgaria, 47:29, where Abbas Al-Awazim scored 11 goals and Fadel Al-Ramdan added 10 more goals.

The girls’ competition had a single preliminary round group, where the five teams played against each other, with the top two sides progressing to the finals, while the teams placed third and fourth headed to the bronze medal match.

There were also teams from three continents – Africa, Asia and Europe – with the first place in the group standings being clinched by Romania, winners of all the four matches – 30:18 against Benin, 25:20 against France, 18:16 against Ukraine and 25:19 against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

France were second, with six points, while Iran finished third, courtesy of their 24:17 win over Ukraine, with Benin ending up on the last position. Therefore, Romania were due to face France in the final, while Ukraine met the Islamic Republic of Iran in the bronze medal match.

Having already won the match in the preliminary round, Romania were favourites against France, but they had to sweat to secure the gold medal, after France led at half-time, 14:13.

Romania bounced back in the second half, led by Anamaria Șerban, who scored 10 goals, while France’s attack could not match the output from the first half, as Romania eventually sealed the title with a 26:25 win.

Ukraine finished on the podium in the girls’ competition, as they dominated the Islamic Republic of Iran in the bronze medal match, 24:14, after they led by five goals at the break, 13:8.

Credit photo: ISF Bahrain