Qatar defeats Bahrain 33-31 to complete a hat-trick of Asian handball titles
Qatar underlined its status as the best team in the continent at the moment by winning the Asian Handball Championship crown for the third time in a row at the Suwon Gymnasium in South Korea yesterday.
Bertrand Roine and Frankis Marzo pummelled in eight goals each to help the team grab a come-from-behind 33-31 victory over arch-rivals Bahrain yesterday, reported Gulf Times.
The side also thus qualified for the 2019 IHF Men’s World Championship, scheduled to be held in Germany and Denmark, reported The Peninsula.
This is Qatar's third straight Asian title after winning in 2014 and 2016, against the same opponents. Qatar had won the 2014 final 27-26 and was successful 27-22 in 2016.
In a thrilling game, Marzo hit a purple patch over the final 11 minutes and that helped give them a decisive four-goal advantage (30-26).
Qatar’s Spanish coach Valero Rivera said his side deserved to win the title.
“Our team deserved to win the title. This achievement hasn’t come from a vacuum but as a result of the hard work put in both by the team and the management over the past few years,” said the coach, who had helped the team win silver at the 2015 IHF World Championship in Doha.
“I’m very happy with this achievement and naturally proud of the players as they not only displayed tremendous stamina and discipline but were also technically better than any other team in the tournament,” he added.
Bahrain were the first to get on the scoreboard, and by the time the game was 12 minutes old, they had taken a 9-6 lead.
But Rafael Capote and Yousef Ben Ali rose to the challenge and cut down the lead to just one point. Bahrain led Qatar 17-16 at half-time.
Yousef Ben Ali with five goals and Berrached and Kamaleldeen Mallash with three apiece were the other main scorers for Qatar.
In the third place play-off, hosts South Korea defeated Saudi Arabia 29-21.
