Wakrah to play Arabi in Asian club meet semifinal
Emir’s Cup champions Al Arabi topped Group A while Qatar League champions Al Wakrah finished second in Group B.
Al Arabi narrowly lost to the UAE’s Sharjah Club and will face compatriots Al Wakrah in the semifinal of the Asian Club Championships. Photo: Asian Handball Federation TwitterOne of the two Qatari teams in fray at the Asian Club Handball Championship is set to exit at the semifinal stage of the event in Samcheok, South Korea.
Emir’s Cup champions Al Arabi, who topped Group A, will meet reigning Qatar League champions and Group B runners-up Al Wakrah in the last-four match, ensuring that only one team from Qatar will progress to the final.
STANDINGS
| GROUP A | ||||
| Al Arabi | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Al Sharjah | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Kuwait | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| SK Hawks | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Zagros Club | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| GROUP B | ||||
| Al Wehda | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| Al Wakrah | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| Bar bar | 5 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| Oman | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Foolad | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Al Arabi | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Saudi Arabia’s Al Wehda, who topped Group B, will meet Group A’s runners-up Al Sharjah from the UAE in the other semifinal.
After four round-robin matches, Arabi finished on six points, the same as Sharjah and Kuwait’s Al Kuwait. But the three teams finished in that order on better head to head record. In the other group, Wehda, Wakra and Bahrain’s Bar Bar, who all had eight points each from five matches, were separated the same way.
While Arabi narrowly lost to Sharjah (27-29) on the last day of the round-robin phase, Wakrah emerged victorious (31-19) against Oman’s Oman Club.
After a day’s rest, the semifinals will be played on Friday. The gold and bronze medal matches are scheduled for Sunday.
