Bagging a narrow win at the final match of the 5th place bracket, the national Iranian men’s handball team finished 5th in the 17th Asian Handball Championship on Wednesday.
The Persian handballers who had defeated Omanis 32-27 on Monday, lined up against South Korea to fight over the fifth place of the tourney at Khalifa Sports City Stadium, also known as Isa Town Stadium, in Isa Town.
Irfan Smajlagić’s boys who had succumbed 16-15 in the first half managed to edge pass the Koreans 29-28 at the end of the second half.
The Iranian squad was defeated in their first event in the tournament as they lost to Saudi Arabia 21-26 on January 15 but won their encounter with Lebanon and China before losing to the hosts 16–27.
They garnered their third victory at the Asian handball championship overcoming the UAE 34-32 on January 23.
Now the Iranian outfit is left to the mercy of the International Handball Federation (IHF) to be qualified into the World Championship in handball for men in France 2016.
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