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The Peninsula
Qatar's Al Duhail and Al Rayyan yesterday marched into the semi-finals of the 25th Asian Club Handball League Championship with impressive wins which helped them finish on top of their respective groups.
Al Duhail topped Group B in Isfahan, Iran, when the Qatar heavyweights defeated Iranian club Shahid Shameli Kazeroon with a 29-23 scoreline. Al Duhail led the game 15-9 at half time.
The victory at the 25th Aban Arena raised Al Duhail's points tally to eight, same as last year's finalists Najma SC of Bahrain and the defending champions Al Kuwait SC of Kuwait, but the latter failed to make it to the last four on goal difference.
Meanwhile, in Group A, Al Rayyan finished at the top following a dominant 40-26 win over China's Junior Club.
The half time scores read 21-10 in favour of the newly crowned Amir Cup champions.
Al Rayyan, who lost only one game in the Group Stage, took their points tally to six with yesterday's win, and came on top ahead of Kazma SC of Kuwait, and Iran's Sepahan SC, who had collected same number of points as the Qatari team.
However, the Iranian side missed out on a ticket to the semi-finals after their goal difference stayed lower than the Kuwaiti club, meaning they will play against Sepahan SC for the fifth place on June 9.
Meanwhile, blocking Al Duhail's path to the title clash will be the two-time champions Al Kazma SC.
Al Rayyan will take on Al Najma SC for a place in the final. This is Al Rayyan's fourth time in the semi-finals of the championship, having advanced to the final in all three previous occasions. The men in red and black have won the title once, in 2012, and finished runners-up in 2006 and 2013. Al Duhail, meanwhile, had reached the semi-finals on 12 previous occasions, and only failed to reach the final twice out of it. Al Duhail, one of the most successful clubs in the history of the championship, have clinched the title on five of those occasions (three as Ei Jaish, two as Al Duhail after the merger between El Jaish and Lekhwiya)
Both semi-finals will be played tomorrow and the final will be played on June 10.
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