Beach Handball World Championships: Oman's best show

Date

7/20/2016 12:51:26 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily)

Oman achieved its best ever result at the Beach Handball World Championships when it finished seventh in the 2016 championships at the Margaret Island in Budapest, Hungary late on Saturday night.

In a playoff match for the seventh place, Oman edged past Egypt 6-2 in a shootout after the teams were tied 1-1.

Coached by Hamood al Hassani, Oman bounced back from the first set loss (16-20) to win the next 17-12 and force a shootout.

Nasr al Tamtami was the star for Oman as he scored 14 points while Marwan al Dughaishi scored 12. Usama al Kasbi gave good support with seven points while Asad al Hassani had four to his credit.

Oman coach Hamood al Hassani celebrates his team's win on Saturday

The seventh place is the best finish ever and coach Hassani credited the achievement to the 'dedication and commitment of his players'.

Speaking to Muscat Daily from Budapest on Sunday he said, 'I am delighted with the seventh place result. This is the best ever performance of Oman team at the worlds. It underlines the progress made by the boys over the years.'

Action from the match between Oman and Egypt on Saturday

Oman's journey in Budapest saw it advance to the second round from Group B as the fourth best team behind Croatia, Spain and hosts Hungary.

During the group matches, Oman recorded an upset win over European giant Spain. It had defeated US, Uruguay and Australia but lost to Croatia and Hungary in the group stages.

In the second round, Oman beat US, lost to Bahrain and defeated Egypt before setting up a replay for the seventh-place playoff game as it had topped the consolation round among the six nations comprising Egypt, Uruguay, Bahrain, Australia and US. Oman's campaign at the worlds saw the team win a total of seven out of ten games.

After a short break, the team will regroup for the Asian Beach Games, scheduled to be held in Vietnam in September.

'Our next goal is to compete in the Asian Beach Games in Vietnam and strive to win the gold,' said Hassani.

Oman has been a regular participant at the worlds since the inaugural edition took place in El Gouna, Egypt in 2004 but its best result was a eighth place till Saturday. It had finished eighth among nine participating nations in 2004. It missed the next two editions - in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2006) and Cadiz, Spain (2008).

Oman returned to the worlds in the 2010 event in Antalya, Turkey, where it finished ninth.

Oman hosted the fifth edition of the worlds in 2012 at the

Mussanah Sports City, where it finished eighth, while at the last tournament in 2014 in Recife, Brazil, Oman came 12th.

Congratulating the team, Sultan Al Hosni, the chairman of the Oman Handball Association, said, 'It is a creditable achievement given the fact that it came amid a strong competition. We are satisfied with the performance as the team has a good number of young players and it augurs well for the future.'

Hosni thanked H E Sheikh Saad al Saadi, the Minister of Sports Affairs, for his strong support and the Zubair Corporation for its backing that helped the team prepare well for the worlds.

Hosni was present in Budapest to cheer the team also thanked the domestic clubs for their support to the national team by releasing players for preparatory camps ahead of the championships.

Meanwhile Croatia set up a title clash with defending champion Brazil. In the semifinals, Croatia won its sixth match by penalty shots as it beat home team Hungary 2-1 (17-14, 21-12) and then 11-10 in a shootout.

Brazil progressed through to yet another final as it beat Qatar in normal time 2-0, thanks to a tight first period win 19-18 and then an even tighter second period 16-15.

Spain took the fifth place with a 2-0 (24-12, 15-14) win over Ukraine and Uruguay edged past Bahrain 2-1 (18-12, 20-21, 9-7) for the ninth spot. US finished 11th defeating Australia 2-0 (21-17, 14-13).

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