Alkass Digital
Qatar handball team yesterday staged a valiant fightback against Bahrain in the final to clinch their third straight Asian Games gold medal.
At the Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou, Al Annabi rallied from 12-14 down at half time before adding 20 more goals in contrast to 11 of their opponents to finish off with an impressive scoreline of 32-25 in an electrifying showdown.
The victory took Qatar’s gold tally in Hangzhou to five besides six silver and three bronze medals. The handball team stayed unbeaten throughout the competition on their way to grab their third consecutive gold, following the title wins at the 2014 and 2018 Asian Games.
QOC’s Second Vice President and Olympic Council of Asia Vice President for the West Region Dr Thani Al Kuwari presented the medals to the podium winners, Qatar, Bahrain and bronze winners Kuwait, who defeated Japan 31-30 in a thrilling third place play-off.
Ahmed Madadi, the captain of the team, expressed his immense joy at achieving Qatar’s fifth gold at the Games, which also raised the total medal tally to 14.
“We are extremely delighted to secure the gold medal, especially given the fierce competition. We successfully accomplished our objective by proudly retaining the gold medal and hoisting the Qatari flag high in the Asian Games. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to everyone for this honorable achievement,” Madadi said.
Today, Qatar will heavily rely on the Olympic gold medallist weightlifter Fares Ibrahim, who will be in action in the 109kg weight class.
Ibrahim, the silver winner at the 2018 Asiad, will compete in the 109kg weight class this time, aiming to go one spot higher on the podium.
Also today, Qatari ju-jitsu athlete Ahmed Al Jehani will compete in the men’s 77kn elimination round of 32at the Xiaoshan Linpu Gymnasium.
Al Jehani will take on Kazakhstan’s Azbek Shamshev for a place in the top 16.
Al Jehani’s compatriot Ali Al Jalahma, however, suffered a loss in the hands of Jordan’s Khalil Arnaout in the men’s 69Kg round of 32 yesterday and failed to advance.
Karateka Adham Hashem also failed to advance after scoring a total of 38.00 points in the pool stage of the men’s individual kata.
The Qatari equestrian team members will also be in action today in the individual jumping competition.
Basem Hassan Mohammed (Incredible W), Faleh Al Ajami (Ghana), Sheikh Khalifa bin Abdulaziz Al Tani (Ireland VDL) and Rashid Al Marri (Concordess NRW) will be looking to add more medals to Qatar’s tally on the final day of the showjumping events following their silver-winning performance in the team event on Monday.