MUSCAT, April 15 - Oman national beach handball team is gearing up for the Asian Beach Handball Championship which will be held from June 15 to 22 in China. Hamood al Hasani, the experienced national head coach of the team, mapped a comprehensive training programme for the team’s participation at the Asian event which will include a qualification place for the top-three teams at the Beach Handball World Championships.
Al Hasani told Oman Daily Observer that the team is currently busy at the domestic training camp. “We are concentrating currently at the internal camp on two different aspects. The first focused area is to develop the players physically through having training sessions at the gym. The other part is to have technical training sessions in the sand ground at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex,” the Oman national beach handball coach added.
Al Hasani’s boys will continue their preparation for the Asian event through an external camp in Iran and it will include presence of the national team at the International friendly tournament which will be held at Asfhan city from April 25-28. “We will play against Iran national team which is ranked as one of the top teams in the Asian continent. Also, the tournament will feature some top Asian teams and there are chances of some Arab countries’ participation, but it is not confirmed yet,” Al Hasani said.
The Sultanate team will look at the Asian event to seal their seventh direct qualification to the world beach handball championship event and their fifth successive entry. The Oman team qualified for the World Cup in 2004 for the first time in their history and after six years they participated in the global event which was held in Turkey. Then, the Sultanate hosted the world championship in Mussannah in 2012. Al Hasani’s team members took part at the Brazil edition in 2014 and Hungary in 2016. The last participation of the national team was in Russia in the previous year.
“In our last participation at the Beach Handball World Championships in Russia, we were very close to seal direct qualification to the advanced rounds. However, there were only differences of nuance with opponents. We learned a lot and gained the required experience form our previous participation. We are looking forward to better accomplishments in the near furture,” Al Hasani concluded.
Oman’s squad is mixed with some new faces and experienced players. The team probables: Asaad al Hassani, Hussein al Jabri, Ashraf al Hassani, Hani al Deghishi (Muscat Club), Abdullah al Roomi, Hamoud al Mamari (Sohar), Osama al Kasbi, Mahdi al Sulaimani, Yasir al Harthi, Ahmad al Hinai, Adil al Balushi, Basem al Rahbi (Seeb), Hadeifa al Siyabi, Marai al Harthy, Azzan al Maheshri, Muhannad al Zarafi (Ahli Sidab) and Abdul Aziz al Majrfi (Oman Club).
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
