I. R. Iran dethrones Qatar to win the Asian Beach Handball Championship
Tehran, 28 March 2022
For the first time ever, the Islamic Republic of Iran dethrones Qatar to win the 8th Asian Men’s Beach Handball Championship. Qatar, the five-time Asian and defending champions, have won the championship every time since 2011. Six teams competed in the round-robin tournament at Tehran’s Iran Sports Complex, and the hosts, coached by Seyed Eftekhari, managed to beat all their rivals except Oman.
Qatar were the hot favourites to win the title, but the hosts, I. R. Iran, proved this prediction wrong. They defeated Qatar by 2 – 1, their set scores being 16 – 17, 14 – 12, and 12 – 10. Both Iran and Qatar finished the group with 8 points each, but due to the head-to-head result, Iran won the gold medal. Qatar had to be satisfied with a silver medal.
For the bronze medal, there was a contest between Vietnam and Oman, but due to a head-to-head result, Vietnam won the bronze medal. Despite having beaten the I.R. Iran, Oman had to be satisfied with fourth place.
The Philippines finished fifth, having won only one match against India, who finished last and didn’t win a match at the championship.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar will represent Asia in the 10th IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship, to be held in Heraklion, Greece, from 21 to 26 June 2022.
All the details about the championship can be found here.
Final Ranking:
- Islamic Republic of Iran *
- Qatar *
- Vietnam
- Oman
- Philippines
- India
(*) Qualified for the 10th IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship, to be held in Heraklion, Greece, from 21 to 26 June 2022.
