After 11 playing days and 43 matches, Qatari side Al Duhail have won the 21st AHF Men’s Asian Club League Championship, which finished yesterday in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Al Duhail beat fellow Qatari side Al Wakra 22:21 in a close end to the championship, despite a three-goal half-time lead (12:9).

 

With the continental victory, Al Duhail also book their place at the 2019 IHF Men’s Super Globe, to be held in Saudi Arabia later this year.

 

13 teams from 11 countries featured in the championship: Bahrain (BRN), China (CHN), India (IND), Iraq (IRQ), Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait (KUW), Lebanon (LBN), Oman (OMA), Qatar (QAT), Syria (SYR) and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

 

The preliminary round featured four groups with the top two in each qualifying through to the main round over three days of games. In a tight group A, Mudhar from Saudi Arabia finished top ahead of Al Sadaka (LBN) after the two teams drew 18:18, and both beat Dragon (CHN).

 

Group B saw the strong Qatari side Al Wakra defeat Al Jaish (SYR) and Muscat (OMA) comfortably, with second place taken by Muscat who beat bottom side Al Jaish 33:26.

 

Host team Kuwait Sports Club won group C with three wins out of three, their six points putting them ahead of Bahraini side Bar Bar, with four points from three matches. Al Karkh (IRQ) finished in third with T-Sports (IND) in fourth, having lost all three of their games heavily.

 

Eventual champions Al Duhail (QAT) won group D with a 23:17 win over Al Sharjah (UAE) and 37:14 defeat of Kazma (KUW) who finished in second and third spot.

 

Following a rest day, the main round got underway on Sunday 24 March, followed by the placement round on Monday 25.

 

In Main Round Group 1 Kuwait Sports Club finished top with two wins and a draw, against Mudhar (27:27), while Al Sharjah finished in second spot with four points ahead of Mudhar and Al Jaish. Group 2 saw Duhail draw against Bar Bar 31:31 but beat Al Wakra and Al Sadaka to finish top on five points. Al Wakra took second place with four points.

 

The placement group saw a three-way tie between Al Karkh, Kazma and Muscat, who all beat each other as well as Dragon and T-Sports to finish with six points each and decide places 9-13. Bar Bar beat Mudhar to claim fifth, while Al Sadaka beat Al Jaish to grab seventh.

 

Both semi-finals saw clear victories for both Duhail and Al Wakra as, leading clearly at half-time in both their matches, defeated Al Sharjah and Kuwait Sports Club eventually go through and face each other in the final.

 

In a bronze match full of drama host team Kuwait Sports Club led at the break (15:14) against Al Sharjah, but the team from the United Arab Emirates turned it around to win 28:27.

 

Final Ranking

1 Duhail/DUH

2 Al Wakra/WAK

3 Al Sharjah/SHJ

4 Kuwait Sports Club/KSC

5 Bar Bar/BAR

6 Mudhar/MUD

7 Al Sadaka/SAD

8 Al Jaish/JAS

9 Al Karkh/KAR

10 Kazma/KAZ

11 Muscat/MUS

12 Dragon/DRA

13 T-Sports/TSP

 

Results

 

Preliminary Round

TSP vs KAR 17:50 (6:24)

SAD vs DRA 28:21 (13:9)

WAK vs JAS 37:21 (18:11)

BAR vs KSC 26:27 (13:14)

KAZ vs DUH 14:37 (5:18)

MUD vs SAD 18:18 (11:11)

MUS vs WAK 23:29 (9:18)

BAR vs KAR 30:25 (18:10)

TSP vs KSC 15:54 (9:27)

SHJ vs KAZ 25:19 (13:10)

JAS vs MUS 33:26 (16:11)

DRA vs MUD 21:31 (8:15

BAR vs TSP 58:20 (26:10)

DUH vs SHJ 23:17 (11:10)

KAR vs KSC 22:31 (7:14)

 

Main Round

DUH vs SAD 35:20 (17:7)

SHJ vs MUD 29:26 (10:14)

BAR vs WAK 21:23 (15:11)

KSC vs JAS 35:12 (15:8)

MUD vs JAS 32:23 (16:13)

SAD vs WAK 21:23 (8:14)

DUH vs BAR 31:31 (18:15)

SHJ vs KSC 19:25 (10:11)

SAD vs BAR 27:37 (13:17)

JAS vs SHJ 16:27 (8:13)

WAK vs DUH 21:22 (9:12)

MUD vs KSC 27:27 (13:15)

 

Placement Round

KAZ vs MUS 27:29 (12:16)

TSP vs DRA 22:41 (8:20)

KAR vs MUS 31:26 (17:10)

KAZ vs DRA 29:27 (15:14)

KAR vs KAZ 21:24 (13:14)

MUS vs TSP 44:24 (22:14)

TSP vs KAZ 18:38 (10:18)

KAR vs DRA 27:24 (11:13)

TSP vs KAR 27:48 (14:23)

DRA vs MUS 23:25 (10:12)

 

Placement 7:8: JAS:SAD 21:27 (12:15)

Placement 5:6: MUD:BAR 28:30 (12:14)

 

Semi-final 1: DUH vs SHJ 29:24 (15:10)

Semi-final 2: KSC vs WAK 28:31 (13:17)

 

3/4 Placement/Bronze medal: SHJ vs KSC 28:27 (14:15)

 

Final: DUH vs WAK 22:21 (12:9)

 

For more information on the 21st AHF Men’s Asian Club League Championship via the Asian Handball Federation Facebook page HERE.

 

Photo: AHF