Oman eye second straight win against Hong Kong

MUSCAT, MAY 7

Oman national beach handball team will eye a second straight win as they will take on Hong Kong on Thursday in their second match in Group A for the underway 10th AHF Men's and Women's Asian Beach Handball Championship. The match will kick off at 8 pm at the sands court in Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. In the other matches, Philippines will play against India while Pakistan will take on Jordan.

Oman began their campaign with a decisive 2–0 win over the Maldives in the opener on Tuesday. Oman’s Asaad al Hasani and his teammates demonstrated their dominance with set scores of 22–8 and 22–6 to clinch an essential win. The team will target for another triumph which will secure their place at the top of the group standings and move further in the knockout stage.

Oman’s goalie Hudaifa al Siyabi was named as the man of the match following his outstanding show during the game.

In an early match, Pakistan snatched a crucial 2-1 victory over Philippines on Tuesday. The first set ended for Philippines by 19-18 before Pakistan equalised in the following half by 18-10. In the penalty, Pakistan won the match by 7-6.

Speaking ahead of the match, Oman head coach Hamood al Hasani said: ”We have clear goals in this tournament. The first target is to secure an early qualification for the semifinals. We will have a tough match against Hong Kong as they are ranked as a fast, young team with good skills but we have played with them before and now the team are much prepared are ready for the fixture. I can say that each match in the group stage is like a final and there are no room for mistakes.”

The coaching staff attended Hong Kong match against Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to note down all the technical points. It is expected they will select and implement the right technical strategy in Thursday’s match.

WOMEN'S ACTION FROM TODAY

The action of 10th AHF Women Asian Beach Handball Championship will commence on Thursday with two matches taking place at the sand courts at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. In the first match, India will take on Vietnam and the match will kick off at 6 pm. In the following match, Hong Kong will face Philippines and the game will begin at 7 pm. The technical meeting for the women's teams was held on Wednesday and during the meeting all the player lists, kit colours and rule updates were confirmed.

Khalid bin Mohammed al Zubair, Chairman of Oman International Development and Investment Company (Ominvest), praised Oman’s opening performance against Maldives and reiterated his hopes that the team will continue to challenge for the championship title and qualify for the World Championships. “These events bring major organisational and tourism benefits to the Sultanate of Oman. They also provide valuable experience to our national sports personnel and promote Oman as a destination for major global and sporting events, “ Al Zubair said.