Copenhagen, April 11 (IANS): The Danish men's handball team booked its ticket for the upcoming Rio Olympics after beating Bahrain 26-24 in the final round of the qualification tournament at the Jyske Bank Boxen Arena in Herning, Denmark.

Bahrain on Sunday raced into a 7-4 lead after 11 minutes of play, but the Danes fought back immediately to level the score at 12-12 by half-time break, reports Xinhua.

The hosts led 17-12 five minutes into the second half and further extended the lead to 22-15 in the 41st minute. But the Bahraini continued fighting hard to reduce the lead to 23-24 five minutes before the end of the match.

Finally, the hosts managed to win a narrow margin, qualifying as number one in the tournament with five points.

It will be the seventh time the country' s men's handballers will participate in the games with a fourth place in Los Angeles 1984 as the best score.

The second-placed Croatia also secured their berth for the summer games with a 27-21 win over Norway earlier on Sunday.