Al Najma edged out Qatar’s Al Rayyan 31-29 in a hard-fought semi-final yesterday to march into the final of the 25th Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship in Isfahan, Iran.
This was the Bahraini club’s fifth consecutive win in the tournament after they began by losing narrowly to defending champions Al Kuwait in the opener.
Al Najma will now face another Qatari club, Al Duhail – whom they defeated 28-26 earlier in a Group B game to set off their five-match winning streak – in tomorrow’s final. Al Duhail beat Kuwait’s Kazma SC 23-19 in the other semi-final which was also played yesterday.
“We have created history,” a very happy Al Najma club president Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Mubarak Al Khalifa told the GDN in an exclusive interview after the semi-final. “This is our second final in a row in the Asian Club Handball Championship. No other team has been able to do that.
“I congratulate His Majesty King Hamad, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Shaikh Nasser and Shaikh Khalid on the achievement of this champion Bahraini club. We will now focus on winning the final and bringing glory to Bahrain.”
Al Najma lost to Al Kuwait 28-23 in last year’s final in Hyderabad, India, after a food poisoning outbreak in their camp on the eve of the match severely affected their players’ performance.
However, Al Kuwait did not make the semi-finals this time around after they finished third in the six-team Group B table, behind leaders Al Duhail and Al Najma.
Shaikh Abdulrahman was upbeat about his team’s prospects in the final, alluding to the fact that Al Najma had beaten their Qatari opponents already in a group game in the tournament but added that the final would be a completely new contest and the team would approach it with a fresh strategy.
“Past results mean nothing, even if we did get the better of them in the group stage,” he explained. “We believe that our team deserves the gold medal and the trophy and we will go all out to achieve that aim.
“I am extremely proud of this team, of the players, who have played their hearts out and given their all in this tournament. This is the fourth time they have reached the final of this tournament and they have also done outstandingly in the GCC Clubs Handball Tournament – which we won last year and finished second in this year’s edition after losing to Al Kuwait in March.
“For the last two years, Al Najma have been fantastic in domestic and international competitions alike. That is because we have the most talented bunch of players who can overcome any opposition on their day and can also surmount other hurdles. For example, some of our players have battled through injuries in this tournament and have still kept contributing.
“One of our players was injured in a car crash on his way to the tournament and he has still played in the championship. That goes to show the kind of commitment and focus our squad has.”
Al Najma, who are the current domestic league-and-cup champions, bounced back after their opening match defeat to Al Kuwait to sweep aside Al Duhail, China’s Junior Club, Iran’s Shahid Shameli KC and Uzbekistan’s RKOR Tashkent in their next four group matches.
Al Duhail, meanwhile, began the tournament by beating RKOR Tashkent before losing to Al Najma in their second game. They, then, beat Al Kuwait, Junior Club and Shahid Shameli in their next three games to qualify for the semi-finals at the top of the Group B table, despite having the same number of points as Al Najma, who placed second because of goal difference.
The final will start at 4.30pm Bahrain time tomorrow.
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