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Raajiv Tripathi
DOHA
Qatar showed their real mettle and retained the Asian Games men's handball gold medal with a gutsy 32-27 overtime victory against bitter rivals Bahrain at the GOR Popki Cibubur Stadium in Jakarta on Friday.
The triumph saw Qatar's 2018 Asian Games medal tally swell to a total of six gold medals, four silver and three bronze.
This was the third time that Qatar played in the final since they had lost to Kuwait when they hosted the Asian Games in Doha in 2006.
Speaking after the match, a delighted Ahmad Madadi of Team Qatar said,"It wasn't an easy game, we played against a very strong team. We did what it took to keep up with the score and played until our last breath. Today also happens to be my birthday and it is a great way to celebrate with a gold medal."
For 2014 bronze medallists Bahrain, it was their first maiden title-clash and they had to finish runners-up to Qatar once again. Bahrain have suffered the same fate against Qatar in three of their four Asian Championships finals as well.
For Qatar, left back Anis Zouaoui led the scoring with seven goals. Left back Frankis Marzo and right back Betrand Roine added six and five goals, respectively. Right winger Allaedine Berrached, left back Rafael Capote and pivot Youef Benali netted four each. Ahmad Madadi and Murad Abdulrazzaq had one apiece.
Goalkeepers Danijel Saric (five off 17) and Goran Stojanvoic produced nine saves off 36 attempts.
Husain Alsayyad (five) and Bilal Askani (four) were the main strikers for Bahrain. Mahmod Salman, Mohamad Ahmed, Hasan Alsamahiji and Hasan Alfardan shared 12 goals.
Bahrain, keen to avenge their losses to Qatar, enjoyed the upper hand in the first half and early parts of the next session, going up by three goals on altogether eight occasions, including 20-17 in the second half.
However, the 2015 world silver medallists Al Annabi, coached by Spanish 65-year-old mastermind Valero Rivera, started turning on screws on the rivals right from closing stages of the first 30 minutes play.
There were some moments of anxiety in the Qatar camp once again as Bahrain went on to widen their advantage to 20-17 in a burst of about two minutes. Centre back Ali Salman, left wingers Mahmood Salman and Hasan Alsamahiji struck off quick attacks.
Qatar quickly responded and repaired the damage with Benali firing one and Zouaoui coming up with a brace to put the match on even terms again.
From this stage till about the final five minutes, Qatar kept their nose ahead, scoring regularly. But after 24-24, the holders lost the possession as Alsamahiji stole the ball from Moutafa Heiba and Husain Alsayyad struck to put Bahrain 25-24 with only two and a half minutes remaining.
Capote's attempt from nine metres out was a bit off the target and it was followed by a time-out call from Bahrain. In another twist of fortunes, Alsayyad was foiled by goalkeeper Goran Stojanovic and Bahrain had a turn-over due to a bench foul.
On regaining the possession, Qatar went back to the drawing board and realigned their strategy. From centre, Ali collected a pass with his back to the goal, beat his marker and turned around to nail the clutch equaliser, sending the match into extra-time.
A relieved Qatar vented their fury in the extended play of 10 minutes. Though it was Bahrain who went up through Alsayyan (26-25), Qatar unleashed a barrage of attacks and slammed five goals in a row to deliver the knock-out punch to the opponents.
Zouaoui, Marzo, Ali and Roine (two) were the scorers and a rattled Bahrain did manage to reduce the gap, Qatar went on to smash two more through Capote and Madadi to seal the defence, triggering a massive celebration by the players and team contingent.
In the third place play-off, South Korea defeated Japan 24-23 to win bronze.
RESULTS: Final: Qatar beat Bahrain 32-27 in overtime (HT 13-14, FT 25-25) Scorers: Qatar: Anis Zouaoui 7, Fankis Marzo 6, Betrand Roine 5, Allaedine Berrached 4, Rafael Capote 4, Youef Ali 4, Ahmad Madadi 1, Abdulrazzaq 1.
Bahrain: Husain Alsayyad 5, Bilal Askani 4, Mahmod Salman 3, Mohamad Ahmed 3, Hasan Alsamahiji 3, Hasan Alfardan 3, Ali Salman 2
Third place playoff: South Korea beat Japan 24-23.
MEDALS TALLY
Rank Nation G S B T
1 China 118 85 60 263
2 Japan 69 50 70 189
3 Korea 43 54 63 160
4 Indonesia 30 23 40 93
5 Iran 19 19 20 58
6 Chinese Taipei 16 17 27 60
7 Uzbekistan 15 19 23 57
8 India 13 23 29 65
9 Kazakhstan 12 11 41 64
10 DPR Korea 12 9 13 34
11 Bahrain 12 7 7 26
12 Thailand 10 14 45 69
13 Hong Kong 6 17 17 40
14 Malaysia 6 12 15 33
15 Qatar 6 4 3 13
16 Vietnam 4 15 18 37
17 Mongolia 4 8 10 22
18 Singapore 4 4 12 20
19 Philippines 4 1 15 20
20 UAE 3 6 4 13
21 Kuwait 3 1 2 6
22 Kyrgyzstan 2 6 12 20
23 Jordan 2 1 9 12
24 Cambodia 2 0 1 3
25 Saudi Arabia 1 2 3 6
26 Macau 1 2 2 5
27 Iraq 1 2 0 3
28 Lebanon 1 1 2 4
29 Korea UNITED 1 0 2 3
30 Tajikistan 0 3 2 5
31 Lao PDR 0 2 3 5
32 Turkmenistan 0 1 2 3
33 Nepal 0 1 0 1
34 Pakistan 0 0 4 4
35 Afghanistan 0 0 2 2
35 Myanmar 0 0 2 2
37 Syria 0 0 1 1
