Al Najma stormed into the final of the GCC Clubs Handball Tournament in Kuwait last night as they produced a commanding performance to beat Qatari club Al Ahli 28-21 in the first semi-final at the Saad Al Abdulla Dome.
“I cannot express enough gratitude to the players for this truly honourable achievement,” Al Najma club president Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mubarak Al Khalifa told the GDN. “I also want to thank the coaches. We always try our best and, even though, when this tournament first started, we were considered the underdogs, today, we came in as the favourites on the strength of our performances.”
From the outset, Al Najma, who have been undefeated throughout the tournament, looked like they meant business, warily sizing up the opposition in the first few minutes of the game before launching a wave of attacks that left their opponents clueless.
Before long, they were leading 5-3 and, as the pressure built on Al Ahli to try and catch up, Al Najma built on their momentum during the 30-minute first half with a series of clever plays and some intelligent passing to head into the change rooms, leading 14-8.
Following the 15-minute break, Al Ahli tried to rally and create some chances but goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain proved more than equal to any throws at goal, fending some off with his hands, kicking others away and using his body as a shield at other times.
Al Najma, meanwhile, kept on scoring with regular frequency, buoyed by the international experience of French brothers Olivier and Kevynn Nyokas and the agility and skill of Bilal Bisham, Ali Eid and Hussain Alsayyad.
Soon, the margin separating the two sides had stretched to seven points and, while Al Ahli did try, manfully, to reduce the deficit by managing to score two quick goals off successive tries, with five minutes still to play, Al Najma surged further ahead again by scoring two more of their own in response.
Even the controversial sending-off of Kevynn Nyokas for a hotly-contested charge of an inappropriate physical contact with an Al Ahli player with less than five minutes to go could not stem Al Najma’s charge. Then, with just two minutes left to play, they changed their tactics from all-out attack to just ball possession, secure in the knowledge that there was no way their opponents could possibly close such a large gap in the remaining time.
“I am so very proud to be president of this club,” Shaikh Abdulrahman said. “Our players didn’t attend a camp in preparation for this tournament. They engaged in very simple training, unlike Al Kuwait club, who, I believe, went to Cairo for a preparatory camp. But, knowing these boys, I knew that they would do their best and, now, we are in the final!”
The Al Najma president also paid tribute to the Nyokas brothers who, he said, had joined the team barely a week before the tournament.
“They had literally less than a week to get to know the team,” he added. “And they have performed exceptionally well throughout the tournament.”
Al Najma will now face Saudi club Mudhar in the final on Sunday. Mudhar won 25-23 in a closely-contested game against home team Al Kuwait in the second semi-final. Al Najma will have a psychological advantage going into the final because they defeated Mudhar, considered tournament favourites, 33-26, in a group game last Monday.
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