Sharjah 24: The Sharjah men's handball team maintained its lead in the general league table for the 2023-2024 season after successfully defeating the host team Shabab Al Ahli Dubai with a score of (33-26). The match, which was a postponed fixture from the ninth round of the preliminary stage of the competition, took place on Tuesday evening at the Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum Hall in Dubai. The first half of the match ended in favour of Sharjah with a score of (15-11).
With this result, Sharjah reaches 28 points accumulated from 9 victories against Al Jazira in both home and away matches, as well as victories against Al Nasr, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, Al Wasl, Mleiha, Al Ain, and Dibba Al Hisn. This comes as a rebound after their loss to Dibba Al Hisn in the previous round.
Sharjah will host Al Ain team in the eleventh round on Friday, March 29th. Then, they will face Al Nasr and Al Wasl before concluding the preliminary round against Mleiha at Mleiha's stadium on April 20th.
This edition of the league competition is held in three stages to determine the champion and the overall ranking of the eight participating teams in the tournament. It starts with a preliminary stage consisting of two rounds, home and away. Then, the semi-finals feature the top four teams in two matches, home and away. Finally, it concludes with the final round between the winners of the semi-finals. The remaining teams from fifth to eighth places compete in a single round-robin format to determine their final rankings.
It is worth noting that Sharjah has been the league champion for the last 7 consecutive seasons. Additionally, the Handball League is the fifth achievement in Sharjah's calendar for the 2023-2024 sports season, after the team clinched the domestic treble, winning the UAE Federation Cup, the Emirates Cup, and the "UAE Super Cup," in addition to an external title, the “Bahrain Emirates Handball Super Cup."