Alkass Digital
The Qatar national handball team defeated its Omani counterpart 31-14 in its first match of the 20th Asian Men's Championship, which kicked off in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia until Jan.31, as it acts as a qualifier for the World Championships in Poland and Sweden in 2023.
The Qatari team faced little adversity in overcoming Oman's squad, with the first half ending 14-7, before pulling away in the second half and ending the match with a 17 point lead.
With the win, Qatar gained its first two points in Group C, which also includes Iraq and the UAE.
Qatar will play its second match against Iraq on Wednesday and will face UAE in the third and final match in the group stage on Thursday.
Sixteen teams participate in the tournament, where group A includes South Korea, Kuwait, Jordan and Singapore, group B includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Australia and India, group C includes Qatar, the UAE, Iraq and Oman, and group D includes Bahrain, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The first and second place winners from each group will qualify for the main round, where the eight qualified teams will be divided into two groups, with four teams in each group, with the first and second advancing to the semi-finals.
The top five teams qualify for the World Championships in Poland and Sweden 2023, where the Qatari teams reaching the quarterfinals of the last World Championship, which was held in Egypt last year, gave Asia an additional seat in the next edition.