Qatar’s 2016 Olympic handball team, which is heading to the Rio 2016 Olympics next month, has started its final series of preparatory games with two wins at home.
The team defeated the Japanese national team 35-19 on July 8 and 27-18 on July 10.
Qatar hosted Japan in Doha’s Duhail Handball Sports Hall, which had been built to hold the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship. The first Qatari win featured an impressive performance by the Montenegrin-born Zarko Marcovic, who was the match’s top scorer with 7 points. Qatar was dominant throughout the whole game, with a 10-point difference at half-time.
In the second match, however, the Japanese seemed more composed and managed to be down by only 5 points by the end of the first half.
It seems like Qatar has successfully filled some gaps and improved its performance since losing two friendly games against the Portuguese in June. Nonetheless, Qatar had not handed Portugal easy victories, merely losing by 5 points in the first game and 6 points in the second.
Along with the friendly games, Qatar’s Olympic preparation included training camps in Spain during the past two months.
The multi-Asian medalist and 2015 World Championship runner-up claimed the Qatar International Handball Championship title earlier this year, defeating Olympic rivals Brazil and Argentina, as well as Qatar's El-Jaish Club.
Qatar is scheduled to compete with the Polish Olympic team on July 22 and 24, the Norwegian Saint Hallvard team on July 28, followed by the Iranian national team on July 30, right before leaving to Brazil for the Olympics.
The team sealed its Olympic 2016 berth by winning the Asian Handball Qualifiers at the expense of Iran. The Olympic handball draw has grouped Qatar with Tunisia, Argentina, Croatia, Denmark and France. Additionally, Egypt has been placed with Germany, Sweden, Slovenia, Poland and Brazil.