By Abellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Kuwait national team will face South Korea in its second match of the second round of the Asian championship, meanwhile Qatar will play Iran at 6 pm. The first group will see Bahrain against Japan at 2 pm, while Saudi Arabia will play UAE at 4 pm. Kuwait national team played many decisive matches with S Korea as both teams are respected by many due to their previous performances, and are in continuous competition for Asia championship, except when Kuwait sport was internationally suspended.

The Korean team relies on speed in the center and score through shooting from a far or penetration and can reach the goal through all positions, and have a strong talented goal keeper. Kuwait defenders must concentrate very well to keep the Koreans from scoring particularly from the middle of the circle, which is the favorite spot for them.

Kuwait Assistant Coach Mohammad Mubarak said the team is ready for the second round matches, adding the team had the full mark in the preliminaries and this gives it a good incentive to have a strong performance despite the group's difficulty which includes S Korea, Iran and Qatar. He said the team is competing for the championship and wants the title besides qualifying for the World Cup in 2021 in Egypt.

He all teams that moved to the second round are strong and was confident Kuwait players will execute the plans very well. Vice-president of the International Handball Federation Bader Theyab lauded Kuwait hosting of the 19th Asian Handball Championship with the participation of an elite group of teams. He said we are happy with the launch of the championship in Kuwait at the current hall. He said everyone is exerting great effort to ensure the success of the event.

Meanwhile, Iraq defeated China in the consolation rounds of places 9-13, by the score of 38-31, giving Iraq the first two points in this round. Meanwhile, Iraq coach expected Kuwait to get into the final four and qualify for the World Cup in 2021, despite the difficulty to reach the final match due to technical matters that lean in favor of other Asian teams. He said Kuwait weakness is in the slowness of its players and will suffer defensively. Sahib expected Qatar to reach the final match, and Bahrain has a good match to meet it. "Bahrain defeated UAE with the score of 29-18," details will be later.