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Al Annabi win 40-23; to play Bahrain in the next match of the Main Round
Agencies
Suwon
Defending champions Qatar displayed their might, outclassing former twice winners Japan 40-23 in the Main Round of the Asian Men's Handball Championship on Monday.
Qatar displayed a fine mix of defence and attack before pulling clear by 10 goals (19-9) at the interval. The fourth victory in a row for Al Annabi has put them in pole position in Group 2 for a spot in the semi-finals.
In the first session, centre back Frankis Marzo had the highest four goals for Qatar, while Hossam and Romane struck three each.
Marzo and Rafael Capote were dominant with moves from the middle. Abdul Razzaq Murad and Anis Zouaoui worked well on the wings to throw the Japanese defence in disarray on a number of occasions. Pivot Youssef Benali also forced his way to create openings for his teammates.
With some quick counter-attack, the Blue Samurai forged 2-1 ahead in the beginning of the match. But Qatar exerted pressure through waves of attack and tied the scores (3-3) before jumping six goals clear midway (14-8).
Qatar, with sustained pace and precision, looked to widen the difference and moved to 16-9. Towards the end of the session, their aggression was too much for Japan to bear and the holders opened a healthy 10-goal difference before trooping out for the break (19-9).
The Qatari goalkeeper Allosa was also outstanding. Besides thwarting the Japanese during fast breaks, he blocked three penalty shots to boost the team.
After Japan struck to reduce the margin to 13-22 in the second half, Qatar again started to step up the attack. Betrain Roine, Capote and Murad fired three successive goals to push the score to 26-14. Soon the reigning champions increased the gap to 14 goals (28-14).
Coach Valero Rivera played Ahmed Madadi and Kamalaldin Mallash in the middle to activate the attack. Soon after Japan made it 17-29, Allaeldine Berrached netted a brace to help Qatar forge 31-17 ahead.
Al Annabi continued to excel in the final minutes of the half, thanks to a strong performance of the players and succeeded in expanding the gap to 17 goals at the end (40-23) and completing the romp.
In the other Group 2 match, Bahrain, the current runners-up, needed to bring their A game to overcome the challenge of the United Arab Emirates 28-22, after falling behind by a goal at the interval (12-13).
The Group 1 matches saw Saudi Arabia surge to beat Iran 26-23 and South Korea edge Oman 27-23 to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
Qatar will meet Bahrain in the next match on Wednesday before playing United Arab Emirates in the final match of the Main Round on Wednesday.
Results
Main round
Group 1: Saudi Arabia beat Iran 26–23 (Halftime 12–11); South Korea beat Oman 29–27 (Halftime 12-13)
Group 2: Qatar beat Japan 40–23 (Halftime 19–9); Bahrain beat United Arab Emirates 28–22 (Halftime 13-11)
Minor round
Group 3: Uzbekistan beat New Zealand 33-19 (Halftime 13-8)
Group 4: Australia beat Bangladesh 35-22 (halftime 16-15).
