MUSCAT, June 24 - Oman settled for second position at the seventh Asian Beach Handball Championship as they suffered a 2-0 loss against Qatar in the concluding game of championship on Monday. Iran claimed the third place after edging Vietnam 2-1 in the third and fourth place match.
Hamood al Hasani’s men failed to finish the fifth successive final clash against Qatar with victory as GCC team Qatar registered their fourth title. The Sultanate team’s only title came in the first edition of the championship in 2004.
Experienced Qatar registered a strong start as they claimed the first set by four points difference 12-8. Omani players tried their best to break through but struggled against a tough Qatari defence. Coach Hamood al Hasani also made changes and implemented different tactics but of no avail. The Qatari players exploited the mistakes by Oman side and won the second set 16-14 to lift the crown.
The Sultanate team had already secured their spot at the IHF World Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Championship in Italy in 2020 after they beat Vietnam 2-0 in the semifinal. Also, Oman booked their appearance at the first edition of the ANOC World Beach Games from October 12 to 16 in Doha with the participation of 90 countries.
Oman began their campaign at the Asian Championship through registering four victories against Saudi Arabia, Japan, Pakistan and Iran and had suffered one loss to Thailand in the group matches. The Sultanate topped the group to qualify for the semifinals.
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