The Peninsula
Qatar will be looking to defend their Asian crown at the 7th Asian Beach Handball Championship when they travel to Weihai, China tomorrow.
The Championship will be held from June 15 to 24.
Qatar, who have sealed the Asian glory in the last four consecutive tournaments, will be the one to watch during the bi-annual event in which 12 of the best Asian teams vie for honours.
Qatar won the championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 to become the most successful team in the tournament’s history.
Qatar will conclude their pre-tournament training camp in Thailand today, where they played several practice matches against local teams.
Qatar also played a practice game against their Thai counterparts and secured a 2-0 win.
The team includes a host of experienced players, including Anadin Sulakovic, Mahmoud Zaki, Sayed Qenaoui (Al Ahli), Ameer Dunkir, Rashid Youssef (Al Sadd), Mutasim Abdel Wahid, Hani Kakhi (Arab), Abdul Razak Murad (Gharafa), Mohamed Obaidi (Qatar SC), Anis Al Zawawi, Rayan Al Oreibi (Al Wakrah) and Mohammed Zaki.
The draw for the championship took place at the Tianmu Resort Villagein in Weihai, Shandong Province, China and that saw Qatar pitted in Group A along with Vietnam, Chinese Taipei, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Philippines.
Group B includes Oman, Iran, Thailand, Pakistan, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Qatar will start their campaign against the Philippines on Saturday and will move onto their second match against Indonesia on the following day.
Their third match will be against Afghanistan on June 17.
Qatar will meet Chinese Taipei on June 19, before facing Vietnam in their final preliminary round fixture on June 20.
The Qatari beach handball team won the previous Asian Championship in its final edition held in Pattaya, Thailand, in 2017 after winning the final against Oman 2-0.
Top four finishers of the tournament will qualify for next year’s World Championships which will be held in Italy.