Qatar defeat Bahrain 28-23, improves chances of quarter-finals berth at IHF Men's World Championship
The Qatari national handball team defeated Bahrain 28-23 on Saturday in the second match of the main round of the ongoing 27th IHF Men's World Championship, which is taking place in Egypt until Jan 31.
The Qatari team raised their points to four with the win while their Bahraini counterpart remained on zero points.
Bahrain ended the first half with a 14-13 lead, but Qatar started the second half with strength and focus and succeeded in snatching the victory.
With the result, Qatar still have a mathematical chance to advance to the quarter-final if they win their last match against Argentina on Monday. Depending on the results from the other matches in the group.
Group leaders Denmark, who are unbeaten so far, have the maximum eight points from four matches and are already through, while second-placed Argentina are on six-points and Croatia, who suffered a shocking 23:19 defeat to Argentina yesterday five.
Qatar's defeat of Argentina on Monday will bring them to level with Argentina. The coach Valero Rivera team must pray that Denmark lends them a helping hand by defeating Croatia to further brighten their chances of reaching the quarters in Egypt.
Qatar's handball player Rafael Capote won the Player of the Match award.
Both teams had a slow start in the match, each netting just once in the first eight minutes. Qatar's Yassine Sami opened the score before Mohammed Ahmed drew level from the 7m line.
After that, the opponents started to demonstrate their powerful attack – yet, they were still tied at 4:4 in the 12th minute. Then Qatar took the initiative, though, and goals by Rafael Capote propelled them to an 8:5 lead.
After a time-out taken by Halldor Sigfusson, Bahrain started to play more disciplined and hit back, as Mahdi Saad drew level at 12:12.
In the 27th minute, Mohammed Ahmed scored his fourth goal in the game to give Bahrain their first lead (13:12), and his fifth goal helped them stay in front at half-time.
Capote, who only recently joined Qatar's squad and played his first match at the event, was hard to stop early in the second half, and he helped the team to turn the tide. Following a 7:2 run, Valero Rivera's men were up by four goals by minute 42 (20:16).
"Even though Capote was sick and did not train for three weeks, he helped us a lot. I'm proud of my team who did an excellent job in the second half," Rivera said after the match.
While Capote finished the game with nine and Frankis Marzo added eight more, Qatar's experienced goalkeeper Danijel Saric recorded many saves, limiting their rivals to just four goals between the 31st and 54th minute.
By then, Qatar led 25:18, and although Bahrain woke up in the last few minutes of the match, it was too late for them as Rivera's team went on to claim two points in this Gulf derby.
Director of the Qatari handball team Youssef Al Hail affirmed that the victory over the Bahraini national team reflects the team's strength and desire to achieve success despite the difficulties they faced in terms of absences and injuries.
In a press statement after the match, Al Hail said, "The team handled the match well despite the fact it was tough. Though they were late in the first half, they succeeded in the second in coming back strongly and achieve a deserved victory, raising their points to four."
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