From
8-15 May, the 6th Asian Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Championships took
place at the beach resort of Pattaya in Thailand. Featuring nine men’s teams
and four women’s teams, the championship saw countries from across the
continent battle it out for continental glory and the right to qualify directly
through to the 2018 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in
Sochi, Russia.
Men’s Competition
Emerging
as a new force in men’s beach handball in recent years, Qatar took their
fourth-straight championship, despite a shock 2-0 (15:14, 19:18) loss to Oman in
the final match of the group stage which had been preceded by 2-0 wins over
Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei.
In
the semi-finals, they dispatched Vietnam easily 2-0 (26:6, 25:22) before
meeting Oman in the final, who had beaten Iran in a semi-final penalty
shoot-out 8:4 after a drawn game (10:8 and 12:15).
The
final lived up to expectations as a tight first set saw Qatar squeeze past
15:14 before a powerful second period win (17:10) confirmed the game, and the
title for the 2016 IHF Beach Handball World Championship bronze medallists.
In
the third-place match Iran beat Vietnam 2-1 thanks to a 8:6 penalty shot win to
confirm their place at the 2018
World Championship, alongside Qatar, Oman and fourth-placed Vietnam.
Women’s Competition
In
the women’s tournament, played in a group format, Thailand got their home
campaign off to a nervous start as they eventually beat China (2-1) 6:4 on
penalty shots before defeating Vietnam and Chinese Taipei 2-0 in their other
two group clashes to take the championship in front of joyous home support –
it was their third straight title in a row after winning in 2013 and 2015.
Vietnam
took second spot and Chinese Taipei finished in third with all three teams qualifying through to the Sochi next
year.
FINAL RANKING
MEN
1.
– GOLD Qatar
2.
– SILVER Oman
3.
– BRONZE Iran
4.
Vietnam
5.
Chinese Taipei
6.
Thailand
7.
United Arab Emirates
8.
Uzbekistan
9.
Afghanistan
WOMEN
1.
– GOLD Thailand
2.
– SILVER Vietnam
3.
– BRONZE Chinese Taipei
4.
China
Photos: AHF