By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: Qatar National Handball team will face its South Korean counter-part in the final of the 19th Asian Handball Championship at 6:30 pm today. Bahrain will play Japan at 4:30 pm for the bronze medal. Qatar qualified for the final after defeating Bahrain 28-24 during their match on Saturday. Meanwhile S Korea defeated Japan 34-32 in a marathon match during which they resorted to two extra times. The four teams already qualified for the world cup finals to be held in Egypt 2021.

Qatar: Strength and experience
The Qatari players are well built and enjoy skill and international experience, and the team's strength is in its goal-keeper, who is a strong candidate for the best goal-keeper of the championship. The Qatar team is distinguished by its varied attack that can reach the goal from all positions.

Korea: Speed and skill
Performance of the South Korean team is improving from one match to the other and appeared totally different in the main draw than it was in the preliminaries. The team depends on its goal-keeper and advanced defense 3/3, then man to man, which confuses any team and exhaust its physical fitness.

Valero: Tough match
Qatar Handball Coach Valero Rivera Lopez said the South Korean team has very good physical fitness that was very clear in front of Japan, adding that he has high respect for them. He said the match will be difficult especially that time is short for preparation for the final match.

Meanwhile Qatar's team manager Yousuf Al-Hail said his team will continue the good performance that it gave so far. He added "we beat a major team of Bahrain which gave a fierce performance. South Korea Handball Coach Kang Il-Koo said he respects the Qatari team and expected a difficult final. He said "we had a strong match against Japan, and we were not in best shape because of injuries, but we had the speed in returning to defense and attacking.