Qatar Handball Association( QHA) won a silver medal at the 11th World Games final match after losing to Croatia, QHA announced on Twitter on Saturday.

Qatar won the first period 17:14, but Croatia rallied in the second (20:16) to win the shootout 9:6.

Team Qatar advanced to the finals after defeating Brazil, runner-up in the tournament. 

Qatar is the only Asian country to qualify for the competition and was drawn in Group A along with Croatia and New Zealand. Qatar advanced to the main round and was seeded in Group I along with Croatia, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. 

In the semi-finals, Qatar defeated Brazil by 2–1.  The top scorers in the match for Qatar were Mohamed Hassan and Amir Denguir, who scored 12 points each.

Two players from the Qatar team were selected in the Men’s All-Star Team of the competition by the IHF Beach Handball Working Group.

Mohamed Hassan was recognised as the Most Valuable Player( MVP) and Sid Kenaoui, best defender.

While originally scheduled for July 2021, the World Games 2022 were held from July 7 to 17, 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, US  due to the rescheduling of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Over the span of 11 days, more than 30 sports involving more than 3,600 athletes  played in venues across metro Birmingham.

Given that this was the Qatari team’s third appearance at the World Games, winning the silver medal is regarded as a significant accomplishment.

This is Qatar’s second World Games medal in the men’s beach handball competition, having won bronze in the previous edition in Wrocaw, Poland in 2017.