The 18th Asian Men Championship in South Korea comes to the final games. In the semi-finals, host South Korea could not upset the favorites: Qatar, led by brilliant man of the match – veteran goalkeeper Danijel Šarić, easily won 32:21 (14:8). Second semi-final match between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia brought much more excitement: after even first half, in which goalkeepers Al-Salem (Saudi Arabia) and Abdul Husain (Bahrain) dominated, Bahrain tightened the defense and came to the advantage in the first minutes of the second half. All efforts of Saudi Arabia to fight back were unsuccessful and Gudmundur Gudmundsson`s team deservedly progressed to the final by 24:22 (11:11) victory.
Semi-finalists: Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the host South Korea have qualified for the 2019 World Handball Championship.
In the placement games, Iran tok fifth place by winning against Japan 33:28 (15:15), after respectable attacking display in the second half. After dismal performances in the second round, United Arab Emirates woke up to take the seventh place by winning 28:24 (14:12) against demotivated Oman.
The final match between Qatar and Bahrain is the replay of last two final matches: both in 2014 and 2016 Qatar won closely. In the play-off stage, just a few days ago, Qatar won against Bahrain 29:21 (13:11). Can Bahraini local players, led by captain Al-Sayyad, be capable to make a huge surprise and stop the legionaires under Qatari flag: Šarić, Capote, Roine and others? We will find out on Sunday, January 28th.
Results – January 26th, 2018:
Semi-final 1: South Korea – Qatar 21:32 (8:14)
Semi-final 2: Saudi Arabia – Bahrain 22:24 (11:11)
5th place: Iran – Japan 33:28 (15:15)
7th place: Oman – UAE 24:28 (12:14)
9th place: Uzbekistan – China 21:32 (8:19)
11th place: India – Australia 24:27 (12:10)
13th place: New Zealand – Bangladesh 24:31 (10:16)
Standings:
Final: Bahrain-Qatar
3rd Place Match: Korea – Saudi Arabia
5th place: Iran
6th place: Japan
7th place: UAE
8th place: Oman
9th place: China
10th place: Uzbekistan
11th place: Australia
12th place: India
13th place: Bangladesh
14th place: New Zealand
WRITTEN BY MARKO SELAKOVIC
