Qatar’s Abdulla al-Buainain (centre) tries to get past Bahrain players during their match yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram

By Yash Mudgal/Doha

Jamal Rashed netted a fine hat-trick as Bahrain handed hosts Qatar (6-1) their second consecutive defeat in the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015-AFC Qualifier Qatar at Katara yesterday.
The 2009 finalists Bahrain, who lost to Oman in a close opening day Group A match, came strongly against Qatar as Abdulla scored in the fifth minute of the first quarter to give visitors a momentum.
“Yes, we were a bit rusty during our first match against Oman. You know it is always difficult to play first match of any tournament and here we were against a good team, but I think today’s victory has given us the momentum and hopefully we will keep it going in the coming matches,” Abdulla said.
Qatar, after losing to debutant Laos in the opening match, were no match for Bahrain, who displayed their beach soccer skills to the full yesterday.
Momentum stayed with Bahrain, and it was evident as they scored again as Rashed doubled the advantage eight minutes into the second period and later Jasim Mubarak extended the lead to 3-0 and Rashed added his second in the dying minutes of the second period through a fine header.
Rashed scored one more in the last period to complete a fine hat-trick as the host’s misery was compounded by an own goal by Ibrahim.
“It was a very good match for us... a confident booster after our loss against Oman in a tough opener. We are now hoping to perform better in next matches,” Jamal said.
Talking about his hat-trick, he said: “I am happy with my performance as it helped my team score a crucial victory.”
Qatar had their opportunities, but Hamad al-Sharqi and Fahad al-Sharshani failed to beat Bahrain’s goalkeeper Saleh Mohamed. Qatar captain Jafal Rashid al-Kuwari scored a goal in the dying minutes of the match.

OMAN THROUGH
The win gave Bahrain three points and it means that their match against Laos, who also have three points, will determine who goes through from the group to the quarter-finals along with Oman.
Qatar have a shot at victory against Oman, who defeated Laos 8-3 in the other group match of the day, today. Defence was at a premium in this match as both sides could have scored plenty more, were it not for good goalkeeping.
Oman built a large lead and had to hold off a furious comeback from Laos, before they finally used a penalty kick to put the score just out of reach for Laos. The win gave Oman six points and put them at the top of the table going into their showdown against the hosts.
From the opening whistle, the teams were in attack mode and a spirited charge from Oman gave them an early lead on a high-motor play from Yahya to put the score at 1-0.
Laos had shown that they were capable of scoring in the opening match win against Qatar on Monday but yesterday they did not have many chances early on.
The score remained at 1-0 for Oman going into the first break.
Oman maintained the pressure but the Laotian defence and keeper were able to alleviate it, but not for long.
Oman struck after a series of near misses to double their advantage. The action intensified and Laos got their first real chance at goal, and capitalised, making the score 2-1. The Omani side then charged ahead and took a commanding 6-1 lead before closing out the game at 8-3.
In all 14 teams are vying for three places available at the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015.