Qatar handball and 3x3 basketball teams notch second wins

Qatar’s handball and 3x3 basketball teams secured their second straight wins at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Wednesday.The handball team were put through a stern test by South Korea before the defending gold medallists prevailed 31-27. Rafael Capote and Amir Denguir were the standout performers for the side scoring seven and six goals respectively.The Al Annabi had defeated Hong Kong 36-18 in their opening Group B match on Monday. Qatar will meet Kazakhstan next tomorrow.The Qatar 3x3 basketball too made it two wins out of two as they beat Kazakhstan 19-11 in Pool D. On Thursday, they take on Kyrgyzstan.China knocks out football teamQatar’s U-23 football team crashed out of the Asian Games on Wednesday, after losing a hotly-contested last 16 match against China at the Huanglong Sports Center Stadium. Al-Annabi had barely scraped through to the knockout stage in the first place, scoring one goal and conceding three.China made a strong start, with Tao Qianglong heading in a Fang Hao cross to give them the lead in the third minute. The host nation had several chances to add more, with Fang in particular guilty of missing a glorious opportunity but the single goal was enough to take China through.Tempers frayed several times during the match, with Qatar’s Jassem Jaber and China’s Sheng Longjiang sent off in the stoppage time after clashing with each other. At the final whistle, infuriated Qatari players also confronted the referee for not adding enough additional minutes."We deserved a better result as we played a good match,” Qatar U-23 coach Ildio Vale said after the defeat. "We are dejected with the defeat but players gave a spirited performance and will take back valuable experience,” he added.In the quarters, China will take on South Korea, who beat Kyrgyzstan 5-1. Iran beat Thailand 2-0 to set up a quarter-final clash with Hong Kong, who edged Palestine 1-0 thanks to Matt Orr’s ninth-minute goal. DPR Korea beat Bahrain 2-0 and will face either Japan or Myanmar.In table tennis, Qatar’s paddler made an exit early too. Mohamed Abdelwahab lost to Vietnam’s Dien Anh Hong 4-0, while Abdullah Abdelwahab lost to North Korea’s Ham Yu Song by the same score in the round of 64.