Saudi Arabia have grabbed the bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship after beating Japan 26-25 in the third-place playoff at Khalifa Sports City Hall in Manama.
The win is the Young Falcons’ best-ever finish in the competition.
The ninth edition of the tournament, which concluded in Bahrain on Wednesday, also acted as a qualifying campaign for the 2023 International Handball Federation Men’s Youth (under-19) World Championship in Croatia, with Saudi Arabia booking their place in next year’s showpiece event by reaching the semifinals.
The first half was tightly contested with Japan taking a 7-5 lead by the halfway point before Saudi Arabia led 10-8 on the 20th minute. The Japanese team hit back to take a narrow 13-12 lead at the break.
Japan extended the deficit to lead 20-15 nine minutes after the break, but by the 24th minute Saudi Arabia had squared the match 24-24, before grabbing the win by one point.
Saudi player Ahmed Qusay Al-Said was named man of the match for the fourth time in the tournament.