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Marzo, Benali propel side into semis in Asian Championship
Agencies
SUWON
The Qatari national handball team underlined their credentials in great style on Tuesday as they beat Bahrain 29-21 in their Main Round clash of the 18th Asian Men's Championship at the Seo-Suwon Chilbo Gymnasium to qualify for the 2019 World Championship to be held in Germany and Denmark.
Qatar team have four points from two wins in the Main Round which qualifies them for next world championship, regardless of the outcome of their next game in the second round scheduled for Wednesday against UAE.
This is the seventh time that Qatar will be participating in the world championship after Portugal 2003, Tunisia 2005, Germany 2007, Spain 2013, Qatar 2015 and France 2017. In Qatar 2015 finished as the runners-up which has been their best result so far at a world championship.
In the match against Bahrain, goalkeeper Danijel Saric pulled off three brilliant blocks in the second half for holders Qatar, who fired three strikes in three minutes in a triumph over three-time finalists.
Qatar's fifth win in a row and the second in the Main Round has secured them a semi-final place. This being their fourth consecutive triumph over the neighbours. Overall, Qatar have dominated Bahrain with 13-3, including two wins in the Asian championship finals in 2014 and 2016. Four matches between them have ending in draws.
Centre back Frankis Marzo led the Qatar attack and hammered seven goals. Pivot Youssef Benali contributed four of his six goals in the crucial second half, while left back Betrand Roine struck five.
The opening session was quite tight, with the Bahrain defence keeping Valero Rivera's boys at bay. As a result, Qatar could not open the gap by more than two goals and on three occasions, the scores were tied by the rivals. During the first 30 minutes of play, Bahrain even grabbed the lead twice. However, Qatar quickly made amends and drew level.
In this particular half, Marzo (four), Roine (three) and Benali (two) scored the bulk of goals for Qatar, who were ahead by just two goals at the break (13-11).
Even in the second session, Bahrain continued to resist and knotted the scores four times. But from 7:30 onwards, there was an inspiring surge by Qatar, thanks to experienced goaltender Saric.
After left winger Abdulrazzak Murad netted a go-ahead goal at 7:42, Saric first denied Alsayyad from nine metres. Then he went on to frustrate Alfardan and Abdulqader.
Benali, left back Rafael Capote and left winger Anis Zouaoui utilised the possession to hit the back of the Bahrain net and put the game in favour of the defending champions with a four-goal advantage (20-16).
This turned out to be a killer blow and Bahrain could not recover from this burst. Soon Roine inflated the margin to five and Ali added another to place Qatar 23-17 up by 17:34. Making things harder for the opponents, Qatar progressed to open the lead to eight goals three times before Houssem Romane slammed a superb goal from nine metres to seal the big 29-21 victory.
Both Qatari goalkeepers Saric and Aljosa Cudic put up a fine show. While Saric had 10 blocks off 19 attempts, Cudic stopped the rivals on five occasions out of 17.
For Bahrain, Fadhul and Habib were the best strikers with five each. Alsayyad finished with three.
On Wednesday, Qatar take on the United Arab Emirates, who lost to Japan 20-27 for their second defeat in the Main Round. Qatar are unlikely to face much resistance from the UAE. In case of another win on the morrow, they should top their pool and face nine-time winners South Korea for a spot in the final.
In other matches of the Main Round in the Group 1, Saudi Arabia, who had lost the first round league game to Qatar, beat Oman and their second win took them to the summit of the group. South Korea held the second spot with a close 28-25 triumph over Iran.
RESULTS & FIXTURES
Main round
Group 1: Saudi Arabia beat Oman 26-20 (Halftime (13–10); South Korea beat Iran 28-25 (HT16-10)
Group 2: Qatar beat Bahrain 29-21 (HT 13–11); Japan beat United Arab Emirates 27–20 (HT 14–9)
Minor round
Group 3: India beat New Zealand 38–24 (HT 17–10) Group 4: China beat Bangladesh 35–10 (HT 19–6)
Wednesday’s Fixtures: Group 1: Saudi Arabia vs South Korea; Iran vs Oman
Group 2: Japan vs Bahrain; Qatar vs United Arab Emirates.
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24/01/2018
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