The Peninsula
Al Duhail yesterday took sweet revenge on Al Arabi to clinch their fourth Amir Cup Handball title.
With the Qatar Olympic Committee President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani present in the stands along with a massive crowd at Al Duhail Indoor Hall, the arch-rivals Al Duhail and Al Arabi were aiming for a fourth Amir Cup title, but the Red Knights prevailed with a thrilling 27-25 win, avenging last Sunday’s defeat against the Dream Team in the Qatar Cup final.
H E Sheikh Joaan, who presented the trophies to the champion team, later congratulated Al Duhail in a post on X, saying: “Congratulations to Al Duhail for winning the prestigious His Highness the Amir Cup Handball title for the fourth time! Best of luck to Al Arabi, which competed strongly for the title. The final was remarkable, showcasing the advanced level of national handball. Thank you to everyone for their efforts in contributing to this achievement.”
The final was also attended by the Vice President of the International Handball Federation Badr Diab, Qatar Handball Federation President Ahmed Al Shaabi, and several key officials.
Earlier, Abdulrahman Ali put Al Arabi ahead in the first minute, before Al Duhail levelled through Alaaeldein Belrashed’s effort. Al Arabi Mohamed Aziz made it 2-1 in his team’s favour, but then Mirza Cabith and Hamdi Ayaad made it 4-2 for Al Duhail. Al Duhail maintained a slender lead with Khaled Hamed and Amin Nooreldien scoring back-to-back goals to make it 10-8. Al Arabi fought back through Basil Mosa, Abdulrahman Ali, and Anes Abdulhamed to level again at 10-10. Thereafter, the match saw both teams trying hard to overcome each other, with the scores hanging in the balance for most part of the first half.
At half-time, Al Arabi led 15-14.
Upon resumption, both teams continued the tussle, scoring at every opportunity possible. However, in the final few minutes, Al Duhail managed to break off, extending the lead to 27-21 at one stage. With just three minutes remaining, Al Arabi eagerly fought for a comeback, with Bolsen, Nadal Issa, and Mosa scoring to narrow the gap to make it 25-27 25 seconds from the final whistle.
That was until the time ran out, as Al Duhail secured their maiden title of the season.
Following their triumph after missing out on the League title as well as the Qatar Cup, Al Duhail’s Ahmed Al Bidawi said they will try their best next season to secure all three titles.
“We are extremely happy about winning the Amir Cup, but we lost two championships. We had to finish the season with a championship title. Thank God we succeeded. However, we are not completely satisfied with the performance in the other two championships. We will try our best to win all three next year,” Al Bidawi, who missed both the semi-final and the final due to an injury, said.
Al Duhail’s Khaled Hamed said the win didn’t come easy. “We suffered a lot during the season. There is not a single player on the team who did not get injured. We tried hard and made sacrifices. We knew that this day would come and we would win the Amir Cup,” he said.