MUSCAT, FEB 15
Qatar’s Al Arabi began their campaign at the 41st Gulf Handball Clubs Championship which is underway in Muscat with a 33/34 win over Kuwait club on Saturday in the opening match at indoor hall at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. With the victory, Qatari team received their first winning points in group B which featured also the hosts Oman club and Dibba Al Huson from UAE. The first half ended for the Qatari team by 18/14 through active movement of Garca Goncalo, Mario Tumeek, Anees AbdulRazzq, and others. In the deciding half, Kuwait club managed to bounce back strongly as they reduced the gap to few minutes through Saif al Adwani but Qatar’s Al Arabi kept their domination and ended the match at 33/34 despite the Kuwait club players requests to the match referee to continue the match for few seconds until the end.
Following the opening match, the opening ceremony of the championship took place at the same venue under auspices of HH Sayyid Mohammed bin Salim al Said in presence of Moosa bin Khamis al Balushi, Chairman of Oman Handball Association (OHA) and the Chairman of Oman Club, Muneer al Rawahi alongside with various officials and dignitaries.
The opening ceremony was simple as the participating teams entered to the venue while students raised the flags of their countries. Later, the second match between the hosts Oman Club against UAE’s Dibba Al Huson in Group B started for the same group.
The gulf handball event featured event teams following the sudden withdrawal of Bahrain’s Al Najma Club due to some private reasons just few days ahead the tournament start. The withdraw of the Bahraini team caused disruption in the technical committee’s scheduling as they diced some slight changes in the matches schedule beside changing the rules of placement matches.
On Sunday, Qatar’s Al Rayyan club will take on Al Noor club from Saudi Rabia in Group A and the match will kick off at 5:00 pm. On the other hand, Oman’s other representative in the tournament Seeb club will begin their participation in the event on Tuesday as they will face Qatar’s Al Rayyan club in a tight match. Seeb club will work to utilise the rest days by registering a win in the opener ahead of playing their following match against Al Noor from Saudi Arabia in the final group match on Thursday. Seeb chances are high to secure slot in the next round after Al Najma's withdrawal and they need to register at least one win to qualify for the semifinals. Seeb team had a training preparatory camp in Bahrain in the last period and they had played several friendly matches including one against Dibba Al Huson. The team is in good shape to begin their campaign in the gulf event.
The technical committee decided after the approval of all participating teams to release a revised schedule for placement from 5th to 7th positions after Al Najma’s withdrawal. According to the new changes of the technical committee, the third-place finisher of Group A will play against the fourth-place finisher from Group B while the winner of the placement match will face the third-place finisher of Group B to determine positions 5th and 6th. Positions 1st to 4th will remain unchanged.
Moosa al Balushi, Chairman of OHA said that Gulf tournaments considered as vital chance for gathering of the teams in one place. “ These kind of sporting events acted as great platform to bring people from the Gulf countries together in an exceptional atmosphere. This is the true value of the championship which is held currently in Oman and it is expected to feature intense competition between the teams striving to reach the podium,” he added.
“The tournament featured participation of the best clubs from the region. In previous years, the Gulf Handball Championships for Clubs are considered among the best in terms of technical quality with top players and clubs participating. Oman Club, as the host, prepared well both organisationally and technically for the event beside Seeb club which is another Omani representative. Best wishes for the Omani club in this event to progress into the finals,” he said.
Major Sporting Event
Jihad bin Abdullah al Sheikh, Chairman of the Organising Committee highlighted that the event is a major sporting event which is bringing together the Gulf teams. “ The tournament provides players with an opportunity to showcase their skills, reflecting the development of sports, especially handball in the region. It boosts sportsmanship and healthy competition among the clubs. This championship is one of the competitive events where top clubs from the Gulf region compete, making the competition intense,” he ended.
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