Al Shamal are men’s Arab Super Cup winners, regional success

15 Jun. 2021

Al Shamal are men’s Arab Super Cup winners, regional success

The 3rd Arab Handball Federation Men’s Super Cup took place in Qatar on Tuesday (8 June), with Al Shamal SC defeating country rivals Al Gharafa SC in the final 23:22.

The all-Qatari final was played at one of the 2015 IHF Men’s World Championship venues, the Duhail Sports Hall in Doha, with President Moustafa joining President of the Qatar Olympic Committee HE Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani in the awarding ceremony following the match.

Al Gharafa had qualified for the Super Cup having beaten Algeria’s GS Petroliers 36:32 in the final of the Arab Handball Federation Club Championship held in Amman, Jordan in 2019, while Al Shamal won the 15th edition of the Arab Handball Federation Men’s Arab Championship for Club Cup Winners held in Hammamet, Tunisia in March last year (2020), defeating fellow Qatari side, Al Arabi 33:31.

The 1st edition of the Super Cup took place in Sfax, Tunisia in 2018 as Qatar side Al Arabi defeated Tunisian side CS Sakiet Ezzit 30:24 (15:12). The second edition saw Tunisia’s Esperance beat Al Gharafa SC 26:24 (13:11) in the Princess Sumaya Hall in Jordan in 2019.

Regional winners

Across the past few months, a number of clubs in the Arab region have been crowned champions. 

In February, Al Qurain were crowned Kuwait Women’s Handball League 2020/21 winners while Kuwait Club won the Kuwait Handball Association Men’s Cup in April. 

In Qatar, May was a busy month with Al Duhail winning the Qatar 2020/21 Men’s Championship, ending the brief reign of Al Duhail as last season’s champions.

Al Arabi SC won a cup double with the 2021 Qatar Cup, defeating Al Duhail on penalty shots 4:2 after the final had ended 26:26. Egypt national team player Ali Zein scored the winning shot. They also took home the Amir Cup, defeating Al Rayyan in the final played at the end of the month.

Al Najma, who won their second successive Bahrain men’s league title in March, also won the debut edition of the Khalid bin Hamad Handball Cup in Bahrain, defeating Barbar in the final 38:37 after additional time as the 60 minutes had finished all-square at 31:31. The match was held at Khalifa Sports City, Isa Town last month.

A number of men’s clubs from the region will be taking part in the 23rd edition of the AHF Men’s Asian Club League Championship which is being played at the King Abdullah Hall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 12-21 June. 

Photo: Qatar Handball Association