Qatar wins their fifth Asian championship handball tournament at the Ministry of Sports hall in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The Qatari team won their fifth Asian Men’s Handball Championship trophy for the fifth time consecutively. The tournament held in Dammam was the 20^th edition seeing favourites Qatar (The Maroons) going against Bahrain.

The encounter ended 29-24 after Qatar led the first half of the tournament 14-11. Qatar was in control for most of the tournament, never going down in the lead.

The Qatari team had convincing wins in the lead up to the final match, not dropping a single point. Al-Annabi boasted the highest goal differential in the second group stage and was tied to winning the tournament from the very beginning.

Read more: Qatar’s maroon’s favorite to win the tournmaent.

President of the Qatar Olympic Committee HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani congratulated the team enthusiastically, saying, “Congratulations to our champions, masters of Asia for winning the Asian Championship, organised in the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after showcasing a performance befitting the reputation of winner of the Asian Cup for the fifth time.”

https://twitter.com/JoaanBinHamad/status/1488201033729912838

This win makes it the fifth consecutive triumph for Qatar after already securing their position at the World Men’s Handball Championship.

Qatar had won the title previously in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. The only country to precede it in titles is South Korea, with 9 wins in the bag.

Captain Wajdi Sinen and Coach Valero Loez are expected to be looking on to capitalise on their astounding form in the championship, as their upcoming challenges prove to be tough in the tournaments to be held in Poland and Sweden in 2023.

In the match for third place in the competition, tournament hosts Saudi Arabia faced Iran in a closer encounter with the game ending 26-23 to the Saudi Arabian team, as the hosts maintained the lead they had at halftime 15-12.

Meanwhile, in the match for fifth-place South Korea defeated Iraq 26-24, whilst the battle for seventh place saw Kuwait defeat Uzbekistan 32-30.

The tournament standing ended as such:

1. Qatar
2. Bahrain
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Iran
5. South Korea
6. Iraq
7. Kuwait
8. Uzbekistan
9. United Arab emirates
10. Oman
11. Hong kong
12. Jordan
13. Vietnam
14. Singapore
15. India
16. Australia

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