HANDBALL – DEFENDING champions Qatar clinched their sixth consecutive title by defeating Japan 30-24 in a dominant performance in the final of the 21st Asian Men’s Handball Championship at the Khalifa Sports City Hall last night.
Both teams had been unbeaten coming into the final with a sparse crowd expecting a riveting contest between two evenly matched sides.
But Qatar were in command from the moment they took a 3-2 lead in the sixth minute of the game with the Japanese reduced to playing catch-up for the rest of the 30-minute first half which ended with the defending champions leading 17-11.
Shaikh Khalid hands over the trophy to the Qatar team captain as the players celebrate their triumph
The Qataris continued to boss the game in the second half and, with 15 minutes left, led 27-19 – but there was still enough time left for the Japanese to make a push for victory, like they did in the semi-final with Bahrain when they took the game away from the hosts in the last seven minutes.
Qatar, however, were in sight of a remarkable sixth trophy win on the trot and weren’t about to let their championship winning sequence – which extends back to 2014 when they won their first title, ironically at the same venue – come to an end.
With 10 minutes left till the final buzzer, Qatar led, 29-21, and, five minutes later, were in sight of victory with the scoreboard showing them leading 29-23.
When the 60th and final minute of the game began, Qatar were almost home as they led 30-24 and, with 30 seconds still left on the clock, the Japanese players acknowledged their defeat by graciously shaking hands with their opponents.
The final was witnessed by Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa who gave away the winner’s trophy to the Qatar captain.
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