Asian Beach Games: Oman eyes super Sunday
Date
10/4/2016 1:06:34 AM
It could be a super Sunday for Oman at the fifth Asian Beach Games (ABG) in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang as the national beach handball and beach soccer teams eye golden glory on the final day of action.
The beach handball team stormed into the final with a hard-fought 2-1 win over former champion Pakistan in a thrilling encounter on Saturday. Oman won the semifinal in a shootout after the teams were locked 1-1. It won a close first game 22-21, but Pakistan fought back to force a penalty shootout with a 19-16 win in the second game. In the ensuing tie-breaker, Oman edged past its rival 7-4 to set up a summit clash with two-time defending champion Qatar. It will be a repeat of the 2014 final when Qatar beat Oman 2-0 (17-16, 16-14) in Phuket, Thailand. Oman had missed a podium place in two ABGs, losing to Thailand at the 2010 edition in Muscat and then conceding the bronze to Pakistan in the 2012 Games in Hayang, China.
Oman's beach soccer team in Da Nang, Vietnam
On Saturday, the experienced Nasr al Tamtami came up with a brilliant display to slam in 19 points in Oman's semifinal win. Said al Hasani (9), Marwan al Dughaishi (7), Asad al Hasani (6), Usama al Kasbi and Yasir al Harthy (2 each) were the other scorers, while goalkeepers Hussain al Jabri and Azan al Azan made ten saves each. Tamtami, the Hasani duo and Dughaishi converted their penalty attempts to pull off a memorable win. In the other semifinal, Qatar strolled past hosts Vietnam 2-0 (20-10, 24-18). The beach handball triumph came a day after former champion Oman booked a place in the final with an 8-2 rout of Afghanistan on Friday. It takes on Japan, which beat Lebanon 6-5 in the other semifinal. Talib Hilal's men had defeated Japan on penalties to clinch the Asian Beach Handball Championship title in Doha, Qatar in March 2015. The title had helped Oman qualify for the 2015 FIFA Beach Soccer Championship in Espinho, Portugal in July. On Thursday, the beach volleyball pair of Haitham al Shuraiqi and Ahmed al Hosni bowed out of the competition, losing to an Indonesian team in the round of 16. Barakat al Harthi led Oman to its first gold medal in Vietnam last week, winning the 60m race, and then spearheaded the national team to a silver in the 4x60m relay.
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