Kazakhstan's men's handball team opened its campaign at the Asian Games in Japan with a heavy defeat to Bahrain — 20:43 (8:20). The news is reported by infohub.kz.
Kazakhstan scored its first goal of the tournament while trailing 0:3. For a while the deficit did not look critical, but by the end of the first half the opponent had pulled 12 goals ahead — 20:8.
After the break the pattern of play did not change. Bahrain kept scoring steadily, while Kazakhstan managed to do so far less often. The two teams' current levels of handball ability are, unfortunately, not comparable. The final score of 20:43 is a clear illustration of that.
2026 ASIAN GAMES. Handball. Men. Group B: Kuwait — Iran 26:24, Kazakhstan — Bahrain 20:43.
The format of the handball tournament is unusual. Nine teams are divided into two groups. From quartet A (Qatar, Japan, China, Hong Kong) every team advances to the playoffs. From quintet B (Kuwait, Bahrain, South Korea, Iran, Kazakhstan), four do.
Thus, to reach the quarterfinals, our team only needs to finish second-to-last in the group. In that case, however, it would face the top team from Group A. Still, any opponent from that group is very strong.
On September 22, the team coached by Makhsadbek Narmetov will take on Kuwait, on the 23rd — Iran, and on the 24th — South Korea.
Kazakh handball players have never finished among the medalists at the Asian Games. South Korea has won more often than any other team.
The XX Summer Asian Games in Japan officially opened yesterday, September 19. The multi-sport event, featuring athletes from 45 countries, will award 460 sets of medals: 217 in men's events, 204 in women's and 39 in mixed events. Competitions will be held in 68 disciplines across 41 sports.
Kazakhstan's team at the 2026 Asian Games will include 559 athletes. On September 20, triathlete Arlan Zhanabay brought Kazakhstan its first medal of the 2026 Asian Games, winning bronze. Today, cyclist Rinata Sultanova won gold in the individual time trial.