TEHRAN – Iran defeated Vietnam 2-1 at the Asian Beach Handball Championship 2019 third-place playoff on Monday.

The Iranian team repeated their bronze medal in Weihai, China as Team Mell had finished third in the Asian Beach Handball Championship 2017 in Thailand.

Iran started the campaign on high note, beating Japan 2-0. The Persians also beat Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan but lost to Oman in the event’s quarter-finals.

Iran also lost to Qatar in the competition’s semis.

Qatar won the title for the fifth time in a row after defeating Oman 2-0 in the final match. 

The competition served as a qualifier for both the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar and the 2020 IHF Men’s Beach Handball Championships to be held in Italy.

 The top two teams received a direct ticket to Italy.