Handball - Team Bahrain

General
Bahrain are making their Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020. They secured their spot at the Games by winning the Asian continental qualifier in 2019, where they beat the Republic of Korea 34-29 in the final to stamp their ticket to Japan.

The team have competed at the world championship four times, placing 23rd out of 24 teams in both 2011 and 2017. They improved to finish 20th at the 2019 World Championship, posting a single victory in the form of a one-point win over Japan in the group stage. They progressed to the main round at the 2021 edition of the tournament in Egypt thanks to a preliminary phase win over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but were then handed three straight defeats and eventually placed 21st.

At continental level Bahrain have developed a rivalry with Qatar, losing to their Gulf rivals in three consecutive finals of the Asian championship between 2014 and 2018. Bahrain also faced the Qataris in the final of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, where they again had to settle for silver. The Bahraini team have made five other appearances at the Asian Games, dating back to 1982, and their only other medal was a bronze in 2014.