18th Asian Games: Qatari Handball Team to Face Iranian Counterpart Friday

Jakarta, August 16 (QNA) - The Qatari handball team will meet their Iranian counterpart on Friday in their second match at the 18th Asian Games (Jakarta Palembang 2018), being held in Indonesia. The match is important as it will determine the first-place and second-place of Group A after the two teams reached the second round following the victory of the Qatari team in their first match against the Malaysian team (64/11) and as the Iranian team beat their Malaysian counterpart (55/11). The Qatari team aspires to a second victory and hopes to maintain their gold medal achieved in the last edition of the Asian Games, held in the South Korean city of Incheon in 2014 after winning the final against the Korean team (24/21). 13 teams are taking part in handball competitions of the Asian Games. They were divided into four groups. Group A comprises Qatar, Iran and Malaysia. Group B has South Korea, Japan and Pakistan. Group C includes Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, while Group D consists of Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, India and Iraq. Meanwhile, the Qatar swimming team arrived in Jakarta today to participate in the 18th Asian Games. The Qatar team, which organized a camp in Slovakia to prepare for the tournament, will be represented by eight swimmers: Noah Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Yaqoub Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, Abdulaziz Hasan Al Obaidli, Musallam Abdullah Al Nabit, Hasan Abdulrahman Al Obaidan, Abdulrahman Hisham Mohammed, Yousef Hisham Mohammed and Firas Murad Al Saidi. The swimming races will be held from 19 to 24 August at Jakarta Palembang 2018. (QNA)