Ahli bow out of Gulf handball

TDT | Manama                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Bahrain’s Al Ahli Club fell out of further title contention in the 39th Gulf Clubs Men’s Handball Championship last night following a heartbreaking 23-26 loss to Sharjah SC of the UAE in their concluding preliminary round match.

The Bahrainis needed to win to go through to the final four, but suffered their second defeat in three games in Group B.

With the result, Sharjah marched through as runners-up in the pool along with winners Kuwait SC of Kuwait, who advanced despite losing to Al Safa of Saudi Arabia 25-26 in yesterday’s other game.

Safa stunned the previously undefeated Kuwaitis and finished on the same number of points as Sharjah on the Group B table.

But the Emiratis are the ones advancing to the final four on a superior goal difference. Ahli finished the group in last place.

Sharjah are now set to take on defending champions and Bahrain handball giants Al Najma in the semi-finals.

Najma were the Group A winners after winning all three of their fixtures.

The other last four contest will be between Kuwait and Group A runners-up Al Arabi of Qatar.

Both semis fixtures are scheduled for tomorrow, with Kuwait and Arabi clashing at 5pm followed by Sharjah and Najma locking horns at 7pm. In yesterday’s game, Ahli put in a valiant effort but could not come up with the key plays down the stretch.

They trailed 11-13 at the half but then were able to get to within a single goal multiple times over the final 30 minutes.

In each instance, however, Sharjah had a reply, and after Anwar bin Abdulla brought the Bahrainis to within 22-23, they made some costly turnovers that allowed Sharjah to hold on to their advantage until the final buzzer.

Ahli, coached by Ali Anzour, were led by the likes of bin Abdulla, Mahdi Al Qallaf, Hassan Shehab, Jassim Al Salatna and Sadiq Ali, to name a few.

They were dealt a huge blow on the stroke of half-time when star Bahrain international Ali Mirza was shown a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct following what appeared to be a hard foul against him.

Ahli will now contest for their best possible final classification in the tournament.