Al Wakra, Al Arabi to Play for Semifinals Spots of Asian Handball Club Championship on Wednesday

Samcheok, South Korea, November 12 (QNA) - The Al Wakra and Al Arabi handball teams will play two important matches on Wednesday at the end of the group stage of the 22nd Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship, currently held in Samcheok, South Korea, in order to qualify for the IHF Super Globe. Al Wakra will face Oman's Oman Club, while Al Arabi will face the UAE's Sharjah Sports Club in the other match. Al Wakra have no choice but to win against Oman Club in order to qualify for the semifinals. They are second in Group B with 6 points from a 33-1 win over Iran's Foolad Mobarakeh, a 34-26 win over Kuwait's Al-Arabi SC in the second round, a win over Saudi Arabia's Al-Wehda Club in the third round 23-22 and a 20-21 defeat to Bahrain's Barbar Club in the fourth round. The goal difference gives Al Wakra a preference over Barbar from the accounts of the first three teams (Al Wahda, Al Wakra and Barbar), with Al Wahda will qualify for first place, Al Wakra in second and Barbar third if the three teams win on Wednesday. It is expected that Al Wahda will meet Kuwait's Al-Arabi, which is last placed in the group, and Barbar will meet second-last placed Foolad Mobarakeh, while Al Wakra will have the most difficult task against Oman in order to win and progress successfully in the tournament. Al Wakra hopes to be crowned the title they lost in the last edition, which they lost to Al Duhail. Meanwhile, Al Arabi's in their match with UAE's Sharjah, they seek to continue their victories in the tournament and achieve a fourth consecutive win in order to top Group A and ensure qualification for the semifinals. Al Arabi's victories in the last three games includes a 40-24 win over Iran's Zagros Club in the first round, a 27-21 win over Kuwait's Kuwait SC in the second round and a 32-24 win over SK Hawks of Korea in the third round. However, Al Arabi need to either win or draw against Sharjah to seal their semifinal qualification. Al Arabi currently lead Group A with 6 points, ahead on goal difference from Kuwait SC, which also have 6 points, Sharjah are third with 4 points, while SK Hawks and Zagros Iran have no points. Al Arabi has the potential, which was shown in previous games and are proved to be a strong contender for the title. Wednesday's match against Sharjah will be a real test for the team to win and reach the semifinals in their first Asian Championship. Al Arabi's Handball Head and head of the delegation participating in the Asian Championship Meshaal Al Sulaiti stressed that the match against Sharjah carries great importance for the team in order to qualify for the semifinals. He said that the team set priorities to achieve during their first participation in the Asian Championship and that the most prominent is to qualify for the semifinals. He said that Al Arabi have come a long way to achieve this, but still have an important game and a playoff on Wednesday against Sharjah in order to achieve their goal. He noted the team's confidence in their capabilities, as well as the technical staff, and that they hope that the team will align and resolve matters by progressing to the semifinals. On the ability of Al Arabi to secure the championship title after their strong performances so far during the tournament, Al Sulaiti said that they aren't thinking about that at the moment, but rather, they are focusing on qualifying for the semifinals. He added that the competition has become more difficult with each passing game, and that they are focusing step by step. He stressed that the team has to think only about qualifying because they didn't qualify so far, but that they're waiting to finish the group stage and then shift their focus on the semifinal and hope to complete the tournament as best as possible. Meanwhile, Vice-President of the International Handball Federation Bader Al Theyab has expressed his confidence in the ability of Al Wakra and Al Arabi to compete for the title of the 22nd Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship, currently held in Samcheok, South Korea, adding that Qatar handball has done a lot for the Asian continent and is still able to continue giving. Al Theyab said in press statements that they have seen the active role played by Qatari handball at the club level in recent years and they are confident in the ability of Al Wakrah and Al Arabi to compete for the title in the current tournament, especially since the last edition saw the presence of two Qatari teams in the final, Al Duhail, who won the championship, and Al Wakra, who were the runners up. He pointed out that the fortunes of Al Wakra and Al Arabi are also present in this edition, along with a number of other strong teams, highlighting the satisfaction with the Arab participation in the tournament. He added that the competition is very strong between the existing Arab teams, which he considered a good thing and hoped that everyone will succeed so that the success of the tournament will be as technical as its organizational success. (QNA)