Walk in the park as Qatar beat Malaysia 64-11

Qatar began their campaign in the Asian Games handball tournament with a walk-in-the-park victory over Malaysia in their opening group A game yesterday.
The defending Asian Games champions and three-times Asian Cup winners were expecting an easy match but the 64-11 scoreline left them with mixed feelings.
Qatar led 33-7 at half-time
“The first game is always important, but the fact remains that Malaysia is not a benchmark for us,” said Yousuf al-Hail, the national team director.
“Malaysia are participating in the Asian Games handball tournament for the first time and we were not tested seriously. We now look forward to our second game against Iran which we hope to win and top the group and then go on to face stronger teams like South Korea and Japan as we bid to defend our title,” he added.
Left-back Anis Zouaoui was in blistering form for Qatar, scoring a match-high 18 goals, while captain Abdulrazzaq Murad chipped in with 10.
What was impressive about Zouaoui’s performance was that he scored off all the 18 shots he had at the goal for a 100 percent success rate.
The Malaysians were hopelessly overwhelmed by the situation and could barely manage to cope. They looked crestfallen and actually appeared relieved when the match ended.
Qatar captain Murad was keenly looking forward to his team’s next matches.
“I am pleased with our level of performance. We played with only 10 players but everyone showed that they are capable and fully fit to stay the course,” said Murad.
“We have successfully completed the first game and we are thinking about the next match against Iran which will certainly be more difficult.  But we are determined to do our best in order to top the group”.
Ahmed Madadi, who scored seven goals for Qatar, was also pleased with the victory.
“The first match is always important to find our groove. Thank God we have done well and recorded a great victory over Malaysia. We now have a tough game against Iran. We will try to prepare for it in the best possible way to achieve the desired result,” said Madadi
“Our mission will not be easy. There are strong teams like South Korea, Japan and Bahrain. So we cannot say that our team is the strongest candidate to win the gold medal. But we will do what is required of us to keep our title,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei defeated India 38-28 in a Group D match. Chinese Taipei captain Chiu Yifan was the joint top scorer notching eight goals from 13 shots on target.
India’s Harender Singh also bagged eight goals out of 13 shots on target.
Chinese Taipei’s victory put the team on top of Group D.
The 2018 Asian Games marks Chinese Taipei’s third appearance in the handball competition at the continental sporting event.
The team, coached by Yu Tekuei, finished eighth at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, after losing in the group stage.
India’s men’s handball team were ranked 14th at the 2014 Asian Games, while they ranked 12th at the 2018 Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Suwon, South Korea.
In other matches, title contenders Bahrain defeated Iraq 30-24, South Korea eased past Pakistan 47-16 and Hong Kong beat hosts Indonesia 40-17.