Dubai: Debutantes Kuwait hogged the limelight on the third day of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship as they topped their group and qualified for the quarter-finals here yesterday.
Sport | Other Sports
Kuwait keep up splendid debut show to waltz into quarter-finals
UAE hopes of making knock-out stage rest on result against Thailand
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:01 May 28, 2012
- Image Credit: AHMED RAMZAN/Gulf News
- Wael Mohammad (in white) of the UAE team vies with Erkin Tabaldiev of Kyrgyzstan during the AFC Futsal Championship 2012 at Al Wasl Club in Dubai.
The Kuwaitis, who had surprised many with a 1-1 draw against 2010 runners-up Uzbekistan on the opening day on Friday, thrashed the much higher-ranked China 5-0 to finish on top of Group D with seven points.
However, none of that happened as Kuwait asserted themselves as the surprise package in this competition with a 5-0 mauling of China, while Uzbekistan powered their way to a 9-1 win over Indonesia to set up a meeting with the defending champions.
Kuwait will now take on Australia, who ended their campaign as Group C runners-up following their huge loss against ten-time champions Iran yesterday.
Lebanon shine
Another team from the Middle East making it big was Lebanon, who secured a battling 2-1 win over Tajikistan as part of a memorable debut in this competition. The narrow win gave the Lebanese second place in Group B behind leaders Japan who ended with three straight wins.
In Group A, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and hosts the UAE were all in with a chance of making it to the quarter-finals depending on last night's late-match results. The quarter-finals get under way tomorrow.
RESULTS
- Japan bt Chinese Taipei 6-1
- Uzbekistan bt Indonesia 9-1
- Lebanon bt Tajikistan 2-1
- Kuwait bt China 4-0
- Iran bt Australia 9-0
- Qatar bt South Korea 6-3
Fixtures
Tomorrow's quarter-final line-up:
- (3.30 pm) Thailand vs Lebanon
- (6.30 pm) Japan vs Kyrgyzstan/Turkmenistan/UAE
- (3.30 pm) Iran vs Uzbekistan
- (6.30 pm) Kuwait vs Australia
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