Qatar has proven it will be a force to be reckoned with at its first-ever Olympic handball tournament.
In its final preparatory stage for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Qatar’s national handball team won all five friendly matches hosted at the Duhail Handball Sports Hall in Doha. It kicked off with two wins versus Japan, followed by another two against Poland, and ended July by beating a Norwegian team and Iran.
After 35-19 and 27-18 victories over Japan earlier this month, the Qataris faced Poland – another Olympic hopeful – and won 24-20 and 29-26 last week. Doha Stadium Plus reports that Qatar’s pivot Borja Vidal and skippers Abdulrazzaq Murad and Zarko Markovic led the team to victory, with Vidal standing out.
On July 27, the team took on a Norwegian club and won 32-16.
Qatar’s final win before heading to Rio on Aug. 1 was at the expense of Iran, who was defeated 18-31 by the 2015 World Championship runner-up. Qatar grabbed its Olympic spot last year after beating Iran in the final of the Asian Handball Qualifiers.
“We’re peaking at the right time. I hope we can sustain the momentum at the Olympics,” said Qatar coach Valero Rivera, according to Doha Stadium Plus.
The Olympic handball draw landed Qatar in the challenging Group A with reigning world champion France, World Championship medalists Croatia and Denmark, along with Argentina and Tunisia. On the other hand, Egypt was placed with Germany, Sweden, Slovenia, Poland and Brazil.
The men’s handball tournament in Rio will start on Aug. 7 with a match between Qatar and Croatia. Qatar will then face France on Aug. 9, Tunisia on Aug. 11, Denmark on Aug. 13 and Argentina on Aug. 15.
After the team faces every other team in the group once, the top four teams per group qualify to to the quarter-finals, where the knock-out stage begins. Scores are calculated by granting a team two points for every win and one point in case of a draw.
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