Al Arabi player prepares to shoot on Al Ahli's goal during the first semi-final. The final will be played tomorrow
Doha, Qatar: Al Rayyan and Al Arabi set up an exciting Amir Cup handball tournament final after winning their respective semi-finals at Duhail Handball Sports Hall yesterday.
Al Arabi overcame a tough fight from Al Ahli to win the first semi-final 34-33 while Al Rayyan prevailed over recently-crowned Qatar Cup champions Al Wakrah 28-25 to book their spot in the title clash, which will be played tomorrow. Al Arabi, who defeated defending champions Al Duhail in the quarter-final, continued their fine performance and dominated the first half in style.
After taking a 9-6 lead in the first half, they went into the breather with a 19-13 lead. Al Ahli, who rallied to beat Al Sadd after the break in the quarter-final, displayed a similar performance after they trailed 27-20 in 45th minute, reducing Al Arabi’s lead to 30-29 with five minutes remaining.
But Al Arabi kept on responding with goals to seal 34-33 win in a thrilling finish.
“We managed to take a lead in first half but it’s a 60 minute match and any team could come back. The lead helped us after we conceded goals in the
second half. Al Ahli did well but we put up a good show to win and reach the final,” Al Arabi’s Abdulrahman Ali said after the match.
“We will prepare well for the final. This is a Cup that we want to win so we will definitely do our best to win,” he added.
Al Rayyan's Youssef bin Ali attempts to score against Al Wakrah during the second semi-final of Amir Cup yesterday.
In the second semi-final, four-time champions Al Rayyan managed to keep their slim lead in the start before building a 9-4 lead after first quarter of the match. They closed the first half at 17-13 but faced stiff contest from Al Wakrah, who snatched a 23-22 lead at one stage in the second half through Hamza Alkablouti’s strike.
But, Al Rayyan excelled late in the match for a 28-25 victory with Youssef bin Ali hoping to clinch the trophy tomorrow.
“Al Rayyan are coming back and today’s match confirmed that,” the Al Rayyan player said in a post-match comment yesterday.
“We faced difficulties in the season like with injuries [to players]. Although we made some mistakes our performance today was great and that shows we have good players who can take the responsibility well. It’s an honour to play the Amir Cup final and we will give our best effort,” Youssef added. The final will kick off at 6:45pm tomorrow
