(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman came up with a determined display to stun Budapest 2016 bronze medallist Qatar 2-1 in a Group C match at the 2018 IHF Men's Beach Handball World Championship in Kazan, Russia, on Wednesday.
The victory by Hamood al Hassani's men ensured Oman's berth in the main round of the championship as one of the top-three teams from the group.
Oman won the first game 20-18 before losing the next 15-21 to force a shootout, which it won in a 15-14 thriller.
In his exclusive remarks to Muscat Daily from Kazan after the victory, Hassani said, 'We are very happy to win this very tough match against Asian champion Qatar.
Oman celebrates its win over Qatar in Kazan
'I thank my players for keeping their nerves at crucial moments. Our team showed grit and lot of fighting spirit against a strong side like Qatar.
'We are confident of doing well tomorrow when we play two matches against Sweden and Brazil.'
Oman's Asad al Hasani was the top-scorer with 14 points while Said al Hasani, who shone in the team's win over Australia on Tuesday, was the next best with 12 points.
Usama al Kasbi scored 11 while the other scorers were Hani al Dughaishi (5), Muhannad al Zarafi (4), Hussain al Jabri (2) and Abdulhakim al Siyabi (2).
With the scores tied 14-14 in the shootout, Dughaishi scored the match-winning point after Qatar's Hamdi Ayed shot was saved. Dughaishi had earlier missed his penalty in the shootout.
For Qatar, Hani Kakhi (12), Amir Denguir (12) and Mohammed Hassan (11) were among the top-scorers.
Despite the loss, Qatar topped the group with better points average (1.324). Denmark's 2-0 (19-18, 16-12) win over Australia in the other group match on Wednesday confirmed its second spot with 1.092 while Oman was third with 0.935.
Following Oman's progress into the main round, it has been pooled in Group II with other five teams – Sweden, Qatar, Russia, Denmark and Brazil.
In the main round, starting on Thursday, Oman will take on Group D topper Sweden followed by a match against Group D second-placed team and hosts, Russia.
Hassani's men will then meet Brazil, which finished third in Group D, in their final round-robin game of the main round on Friday with the top-four teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
In Group I, Spain, defending champion Croatia, Hungary, Iran, Uruguay and Vietnam will fight out for the best-four spots.
Croatia topped Group A and was followed by Uruguay and Iran while Spain took the top spot in Group B with Hungary coming second and Vietnam in third.
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