By Anil John/Incheon

At Incheon, Valero Rivera’s side have been unstoppable so far, swatting away all comers on their way to the decisive match in front of what would be an enthusiastic and raucous home crowd.

A loss to Qatar would be heart-breaking for the South Koreans who have an enviable track record at the Asiad. Besides being the defending champions, they have won the handball gold a record six times since the sport made its debut at the New Delhi Asian Games in 1982 where China took the title.

Ever since that the South Koreans have enjoyed near monopoly in the event with five consecutive gold medals, their amazing run coming to a halt at the 2006 Doha Games when Kuwait gatecrashed their party by claiming the title, beating hosts Qatar 27-24 in the final.

South Korea were relegated to the fourth position then, but they bounced back in style four years ago in Guangzhou to reclaim the title with a 32-28 victory over Iran.

‘capable team’

Qatar team director Adel Hilal al-Enzi exuded confidence yesterday that Qatar would finally overcome their jinx in a sport that has made tremendous headway in the country in the past few years.

“Having come this far there’s no way that we won’t be going for the gold,” al-Enzi said yesterday. “We know the South Koreans are a very strong side and they are also the defending champions but we have a team that is very capable,” he added.

Qatar, the hosts of the Men’s World Championship in January next year, had won the Asian Championship last February in Bahrain where they edged the hosts 27-26 in a tense final.

South Korea failed to qualify for the semi-finals then, finishing only fifth, the pain of which they would be looking to erase at Incheon.

Al-Enzi said the team are well aware that the South Koreans would be doing their best to make amends for their Bahrain fiasco.

“Yes we know that, but we are the Asian champions and we would also like to add the Asian Games title to our list of achievements,” he said.

“Our success in Bahrain makes us even more confident for tomorrow’s match but we have to understand that the Koreans are also strong and that they would be playing in front of their supporters.”

Qatar Handball Association President Ahmed Mohamed al-Shaabi had been confident throughout the tournament about winning a medal without being vocal about it, even mildly chiding journalists for talking up the team’s chances.

“Look, we know the players are capable and itching to win a medal, perhaps even the gold but you have to remember that in sports anything can happen,” he said a week ago.

“We are looking at this tournament as an event to prepare for the World Championship in Doha early next year.”

Qatar are also nursing a few niggles, but al-Enzi said there were no major worries.

“In a hectic tournament you will always have a few with minor fitness problems but we have enough players who can do the job.”

Qatar’s Rafael Capote, Vidal Borja, Abdulrazzaq Murad and Hamad Madadi have been in excellent form in the tournament and the team would be looking up to them to deliver the goods yet again.

Qatar’s best finish at the Asian Games is a silver in 2006. Four years earlier in Busan, they had claimed the bronze behind winners South Korea and silver medallists Kuwait.

Before today’s final, Iran will take on Bahrain in the bronze medal match.