Asian Beach Games: Talib's men book a spot in beach soccer quarters
Date
9/29/2016 1:13:19 AM
Former champion Oman came up with an inspiring display to defeat Qatar 4-2 in a must-win Group B clash to book a spot in the quarterfinals of the fifth Asian Beach Games (ABG) in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang on Tuesday.
Having lost its opening clash against Lebanon in a shootout, Oman, coached by Talib Hilal, needed a victory to ensure its passage into the last-eight round. The team rose to the occasion as it struck four goals in the first period of the match. Abdullah al Sauti's brace (4th and 5th minutes) set the tone for Oman and the 2008 ABG gold medallist never let the grip loosen. Mundhir al Araimi (8th minute) and Khalid al Araimi made it 4-0 in the next minute. Qatar's Fawaz al Daoud reduced the margin to end of first period on 4-1 in favour of Oman. The second period ended in a goalless stalemate and in the final session, Qatar got a goal through Daoud. The win helped Talib's men finish second in the group with three points, while Lebanon topped the table with seven points. In the quarterfinals, scheduled for Thursday, Oman will take on Thailand. Coach Talib expressed confidence after the latest win. 'We are playing well and the boys are ready to take on the Thais for a place in the semifinals. We will take each game as it comes and right now our focus is to reach the semifinal,' said Talib over phone on Tuesday. Team on a roll The national beach handball team moved closer to a place in the semifinals after registering its third consecutive victory on Tuesday. In a Group B match, Oman cruised past Afghanistan 2-0, winning 26-10, 34-9 in the two sessions. Coached by Hamoud al Hasani, the team had begun its campaign with a win against Sri Lanka and followed it up with a victory over Japan. The win against the Afghans took last edition's silver medallist closer to the semifinal spot. Oman next meets Hong Kong before concluding its group engagement against hosts Vietnam. A win against Hong Kong will confirm Oman's passage to the last-four stage with the group topper to be decided after the Vietnam match. Nasr al Tamtami has been in impressive form in Da Nang and led the team's onslaught with a total of 14 goals. Usama al Kasbi and Saud al Hasani slammed in ten goals each, while Ashraf al Hadidi tallied eight goals. First defeat for Zadjali-Subhi The Omani duo of Nouh al Zadjali and Badar al Subhi suffered its first defeat at the Games in a Pool C match when the pair lost to the Kazakh combination of Dmitriy Yakovlev and Alexey Sidorenko 9-21, 17-21 in under 30 minutes. However, there was no stopping Oman's top pair of Haitham al Shuraiqi and Ahmed al Hosni. They defeated the Thai duo of Prathip Sukto and Adisorn Khaolumtran 21-17, 21-7 in a Pool H game. Mazoon misses 60m podium
Mazoon al Alawi (right) crosses the finish line during the 60m final
In beach athletics, where Barakat al Harthi got the first gold for Oman in the 60m men's race, the team's decision to allow Mazoon al Alawi to compete in two events on the same day seemed to have backfired. Mazoon finished last in the long jump with a leap of 4.76m, but that took a toll as she missed a podium in the 60m race. Mazoon could attempt only one jump as her schedule clashed with the 60m final. Vietnam's Thao Thu Thi Bui won the gold by jumping 6.32m. Mazoon came a close fourth with a time of 7.83 seconds with the third-placed winner Tuyen Thi Mong clocking 7.74s. Vietnam's Le Tu Chinh won the gold in a time of 7.6s. After Tuesday's action, hosts Vietnam continued to top the medals table with 16 gold, 15 silver and 22 bronze medals.
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