By Shaikhah Al Tamimi (OCA Young Reporter from Kuwait)
Hangzhou, China, October 5, 2023: In an intense match filled with excitement and drama, Qatar's handball team won the men's gold medal final match at the 19th Asian Games with a score of 32-25 against Bahrain.
With a red card given to Bahrain’s Mohamed Habib Hasan Ahmed for a foul just 13 minutes into the first half, Qatar was able to bounce back in the second half to claim their victory.
The Qatari team succeeded in regaining its balance 5 minutes of play into the second half tying the score 17-17 after further strengthening their defense and offense.
Following that, the match proceeded with Qatar leading the score with four goal difference 21-17.
Team Bahrain scrambled to close the gap but Qatar’s players were ever more vicious in their gameplay by Alladine Berrached in fast break operations as well as teammates Ahmad Madani, Rafael Capote, Frankies Marzo and Yousef Ali.
Qatari superiority continued in the match, reaching a seven-goal margin with a score of 32-25, sealing the gold medal for the Qatari team.
Tonight’s match added a fifth gold to Qatar’s 15 colored medals tally, placing Qatar in the fifteenth ranking in the overall medal standings of the Asian Games.
Meanwhile, Japan snatched the gold in women’s handball at the Asian Games at the Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre after crushing their competitors of the Republic of Korea 29-19.
Korea's only lead of the match came when Ryu Eun-hee opened the scoring at the 2:20 mark with a penalty shot goal. From there, Japan opened up a 7-2 advantage as the first half of the match progressed and didn't look back.
As the game play went on, Japan’s Aizawa Natsuki was an unstoppable force in the field as she scored 6 goals for her team while the rest were able to easily score 3 to 4 goals each.
