Qatar’s Al Duhail have won the 23rd edition of the AHF Men’s Asian Club League Championship, which was played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 12 to 21 June.
 
The title was their second in the last three editions and confirms their qualification for the 2021 IHF Men’s Super Globe which will also be held in Saudi Arabia, later in the year.
 
Eleven teams from seven nations were in Jeddah competing, including local side Al Wehda and Mudhar, Al Kuwait and Al Salmiya from Kuwait, Iran’s Mes Kerman and Shahid Kazeroon, Bahrain’s Al Najma, Uzbekistan’s AGMK (Uzbek), Al Qaten from Yemen and Al Arabi joining their rivals Al Duhail from Qatar.
 
The draw for the preliminary group stage saw two groups set, with Group A featuring five teams: Al Arabi, Shahid Kazeroon, Al Salmiya, Mudhar and Al Najma and Group B six: Al Wehda, AGMK, Al Qaten, Mes Kerman, Al Duhail and Al Kuwait go head-to-head for continental glory.
 
Title-holders Al Arabi won all four games in Group A to finish top on eight points, followed by Al Najma in second, with three wins, while Al Duhail took maximum points from their five games, with five wins from five, including a 30:27 win over second-placed Al Kuwait after coming back from a 15:18 half-time deficit. As the top two in each group, all four went directly through to the semi-finals.
 
The first semi-final saw a classic with Al Arabi leading 8:7 at half-time against Al Kuwait. This defensive opening 30 minutes then changed in the second period as Al Kuwait won it 12:11, to ensure the regulation 60 minutes ended 19:19. 
 
The first two x five minutes of additional time saw the sides exchange goals but right at the end of the second period two goals in quick succession put the Kuwait side 23:22 up, but a penalty shot miss from Qatar international Anis Zouaoui saw Kuwait shock their Qatari rivals – who included 2021 IHF Men’s World Championship top-scorer Frankis Marzo – and knock them out of contention for the title.
 
In the other semi-final there was less drama as Al Duhail led by four (15:11) at the break against Al Najma, before finishing up 30:22 winners. Al Najma featured a number of Bahrain national team players who will be appearing at Tokyo 2020 next month.
 
Najma missed out on a bronze medal after a disastrous first half performance against Al Arabi, going into the break 7:12 down, and despite a monumental effort in the second period, they fell a goal short, losing 24:25.
 
Having only ever finished as high as third (in 2012) in their previous appearances in the championships, the final was new ground for Al Kuwait, and at half-time against Al Duhail they were two goals up (12:10) thanks to a 5:1 run in the opening 10 minutes which included four strikes from Tunisian international Mohamed Jileni Maaref.
 
However, Al Duhail are a true regional force to be reckoned with and they turned it in the second half, going on a 5:0 run inside the first five minutes and never looking back.
 
Al Qaten’s Abdelmalek Fodil finished top of the scoring charts with 46 goals in five games.
 
Final ranking

1 Al Duhail
2 Al Kuwait
3 Al Arabi
4 Al Najma
5 Mes Kerman
6 Mudhar
7 Al Wehda
8 Al Samiya
9 Shahid Kazeroon
10 AGMK 
11 Al Qaten
 
Results
 
Preliminary Group A
Mudhar vs Shahid Kazeroon 30:27 (17:13)
Al Najma vs Al Arabi 25:27 (13:16)
Al Salmiya vs Shahid Kazeroon 30:24 (14:13)
Mudhar vs Al Arabi 24:26 (9:13)
Shahid Kazeroon vs Al Najma 23:30 (14:16)
Mudhar vs Al Salmiya 23:20 (9:8)
Al Salmiya vs Al Arabi 30:35 (17:17)
Al Najma vs Mudhar 31:25 (14:12)
Al Arabi vs Shahid Kazeroon 30:25 (16:11)
Al Najma vs Al Salmiya 35:26 (19:10)
 
Preliminary Group B
Al Qaten vs Mes Kerman 19:37 (6:18)       
AGMK vs Al Duhail 21:39 (9:19)
Al Wehda vs Al Kuwait 27:28 (15:13)
AGMK vs Al Qaten 38:26 (18:10)
Al Duhail vs Al Wehda 34:31 (18:16)
Mes Kerman vs Al Kuwait 24:25 (14:13)
Al Qaten vs Al Duhail 18:40 (8:19)
Al Wehda vs Mes Kerman 25:32 (14:12)
Al Kuwait vs AGMK 34:18 (17:8)
Mes Kerman vs AGMK 35:24 (16:10)
Al Duhail vs Al Kuwait 30:27 (15:18)
Al Qaten vs Al Wehda 23:49 (13:29)
Al Kuwait vs Al Qaten 39:19 (17:9)
Mes Kerman vs Al Duhail 29:33 (16:13)
Al Wehda vs AGMK 41:34 (20:17)
 
Semi-final: Al Arabi vs Al Kuwait 22:23 (8:7)
Semi-final: Al Duhail vs Al Najma 30:22 (15:11)
9/10 placement match: Shahid Kazeroon vs AGMK 33:17 (17:8)
7/8 placement match: Al Salmiya vs Al Wehda 32:39 (16:18)
5/6 placement match: Mudhar vs Mes Kerman 29:32 (16:16)
Bronze-medal match: Al Arabi vs Al Najma 25:24 (12:7) 
Gold-medal match: Al Kuwait vs Al Duhail 24:27 (12:10)

For more information, visit the Asian Handball Federation website.

Photo: Asian Handball Federation