Khaleej Club seal historic win at the Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship

For the first time since 2016, a Saudi club secured the title at the Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship, as Khaleej Club swept their opponents on their way to their maiden title in the Asian premium competition, with an outstanding display of consistency, in spite of missing two of their key players who featured at the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe, Petar Nenadic and Mohamed Mamdouh Shebib.

11 clubs from eight countries took part in the 26th edition of the Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship, which took place between 18 and 28 November in Kuwait City, with two teams from hosts Kuwait, Qatar and India being joined by one side each from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Lebanon. 

The 11 sides were divided into two groups of six and five teams respectively, with the first two sides in each group progressing to the semi-finals of the competition. In Group A, Khaleej Club, fresh after sealing the sixth place at the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe, delivered four wins in a row to clinch the first place, but not without issues.

Their maiden match was a hugely entertaining match against Qatari side Al-Gharafa, which saw Khaleej open their account with a 28:27 win, continuing with wins against Indian side Golden Eagles Bharat, 48:20, Bahraini side Al-Najma, 25:21, and another one-goal win, 24:23, against Al-Kuwait.

With the Saudi side clinching the first place, the battle for the second place was fierce, with three teams, Kuwait SC, Al-Najma and Al-Ghafara finishing all on four points, as the Kuwaiti hosts went through thanks to their superior goal difference, +26, with Al-Najma coming third, with a +16 goal difference and Al-Ghafara finishing on the fourth place, with a +14 goal difference.

In Group B, the battle was even more fierce, as three sides – Qatar’s Al-Arabi, Kuwait’s Qadsia SC and UAE’s Sharjah SC – all finished on eight points, with the first two sides progressing to the semi-finals, thanks to their superior goal difference. Al-Jaish SC claimed the fourth spot in Group B with 2 wins, while Shabab Haret Saida from Lebanon and Sports Authority of India finished fifth and sixth respectively, with a goal differences of -26 and -111 and five losses in five matches.

Therefore, the semi-finals were set and they proved to be the playing field for two outstanding matches, as Khaleej Club sealed their final berth with their third win by a single goal, 30:29 against hosts Qadsia SC, stopping the Kuwaiti side in the dying seconds, after the hosts ended the match with a 3:0 unanswered run.

In the other semi-final, Wajdi Sinen and Rafael Capote combined for 15 goals to lift Al-Arabi to the final, after a 31:30 win against Kuwait SC after extra-time, with the score tied after 60 minutes, 27:27.

The final was even more dramatic, needing four extra-time halves to decide the winner. Backed by seven goals from the MVP of the competition, centre back Husain Al Sayyad, Khaleej eventually took a 35:33 win, finishing the match with a 5:1 run, to clinch their maiden title at the Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship.

Al-Arabi did have the game in their hands, trying to secure their second trophy in five years, but they failed to match Khaleej, who proved once again that they are one of the strongest, if not the strongest team in Asia.

In the bronze-medal match, in an all-Kuwaiti final, Qadsia SC took the medal with a 31:30 win over Kuwait SC.

With this win, Khaleej secured the right to take part in the 2024 IHF Men’s Super Globe, as the Asian champions, also bringing the first win for Saudi Arabian sides at the Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship since Al-Noor last took the title in 2016.