Action during the semi-final between Al Duhail and Kazma SC.
Doha, Qatar: Five-time champions Al Duhail yesterday stormed into the final of the 25th Asian Club Handball Championship after registering an impressive 23-19 victory over Kuwaiti team Kazma SC.
At the 25th Aban Arena in Isfahan, Iran, the Qatar handball heavyweights took a 11-6 lead over the Kuwaiti side at half time, before eliminating the two-time title winners and book a meeting against last year’s runnersup Najma SC of Bahrain in tomorrow’s final.
Qatar international Rafael Capote was their key player in the semi-final yesterday as the star left back was named Player of the Match for his heroics. Al Duhail, one of the most successful clubs in the history of the championship, enjoy an impressive record, having qualified for the title-clash on eight occasions since 2013.
Al Duhail have enjoyed the title glory on five occasions (three as El Jaish, two as Al Duhail after the merger between El Jaish and Lekhwiya), in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2021.
The Qatari team has also finished runners-up on three occasions, in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Their impending opponents, Al Najma have won the title once, in 2017, and have finished on second spot on two occasions, in 2015 and 2022. Earlier, Al Najma secured their spot in the final by defeating Qatar’s Al Rayyan 31-29 in a thrilling semi-final.
Former champions Al Rayyan gave not much room for Al Najma to get a healthy advantage in the first half of the match as the scores read 19-16 in favour of the Bahraini Club.
Al Najma pushed hard by maintaining a slight advantage until the end as Al Rayyan fell short and missed out a chance to feature in the final for a fourth time despite showcasing remarkable offensive skills. Al Rayyan will meet Kazma SC in the third place playoff tomorrow at 3:00pm, two hours before the final at the same venue.
The play-offs for the fifth, sixth and seventh positions will take place today.
