Saudi Arabia have claimed bronze at the 20th Asian Men’s Handball Championship after beating Iran 26-23 in Dammam on Monday.
The Saudi team ended the first half with a 15-12 lead and managed to maintain the three-point difference until the end of the third-place playoff match, hosted by the Ministry of Sports.
It was the second time that the team from the Kingdom had won bronze at the expense of Iran, having previously beaten them 24-23 in 2008.
Saudi Arabia also finished third in the 2002 and 2012 editions.
Qatar were crowned champions with a 29-24 victory over Bahrain, to emulate South Korea’s feat of winning the title five times in a row.
The Qatari team have now taken gold in every edition from 2014 to 2022, while the Koreans had exerted similar dominance between 1983 and 1993.
South Korea still hold the record for the most titles with nine, with Qatar second on five.
The tournament’s top five teams — Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and South Korea — also secured qualification for the 2022 World Handball Championship that will take place in Sweden and Poland.