Qatar thrashed China 35-16 to make a clean sweep of their Group C handball preliminaries at the Asian Games here yesterday.

At the Seonhak Handball Gymnasium, Qatar who had already qualified for the quarter-final rounds after their win over the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, yet again displayed a ruthless streak to leave China completely demoralised. They are now banking on finishing as the third best team from the four preliminary groups to make the quarter-final league stage. Japan, Mongolia and Hong Kong also find themselves in the same situation.

As has been the trend so far, Qatar started cautiously, but once they hit their stride, they unleashed the full range of their attacking prowess which the Chinese defence simply couldn’t cope with. Hamad Madadi top-scored with five goals for Qatar while Hadi Hamdoon and Eldar Memisevic contributed four apiece with Rafael Capote, Vidal Borja and Youssef Benali chipping in with three each to complete the rout.

“It was a great match for us because we were playing China, one of the greatest sports powers of the world,” said Qatar goalkeeper Hamdi Missaoui, who excelled in the match with several saves. “Yes, I am pleased with my performance but it was a complete team effort. Now we have to be careful in the next round because there are some good teams out there,” he added.

China struck first in the opening minute with Yu Yangjiang finding the net with a low shot, but the towering Borja restored parity with a powerful, bouncing throw.

What followed was a long spell of dogged defence by both sides with the result that the scores stayed locked at 1-1 for four minutes before a fine effort by Hamdoon fetched Qatar the lead. There were a few quick goals at either end after that, but the introduction of Capote changed the trend -- for good as far as Qatar were concerned.

The towering Capote, whose designated position is left-back, simply tore through the Chinese defence to score two quick goals to help Qatar take a commanding 9-5 lead by the 18th minute. Madadi, Hamdoon and Capote then broke free, and with Vidal and Abdulla al-Karbi also chipping in, Qatar had raced to an unassailable 16-6 lead at half-time.

However, if China thought Qatar would ease up after the interval, they were mistaken. Under coach Valero Rivera they had been programmed to be aggressive at all times, and this aspect of Qatar’s newfound confidence shone through when they came out even more determined. Memisevic, Hamdoon and Medadi then simply ran riot complete the formalities.

“Everything went according to plan but as I have said before, we have to take one match at a time,” Qatar Handball Association President Ahmed Mohamed al-Shaabi said later.

“This is a tough assignment and although every team that takes part wants to win a medal, you can’t make predictions,” he added.

Qatar left-winger Mahnoud Hassaballa also praised Qatar’s team spirit. “We have the momentum going our way until now and we hope it stays with us,” said Hassaballa. “Yes it was a relatively easy win for us but we shouldn’t be under any illusions because tougher matches will come,” he added. Qatar will now take on Kuwait in their first Group 1 quarter-final league match tomorrow. “I am aware Kuwait are a tough team,” QHA chief al-Shaabi added. “ We cannot underestimate any team.”

Group 1 also includes Bahrain and Chinese Taipei, while Group 2 is made up of South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Oman. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

 

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