STORE 
MY BEACH SOCCER 
Palestine and UAE make it three wins out of three to go top of their groups while China net nine against Kyrgyz Republic
All of the quarter-finals teams are confirmed as Afghanistan lose to hosts Thailand in their last match, while Palestine and UAE complete perfect group runs.
China dealt a nine-goal blow to Kyrgyz Republic, while Malaysia lost to Palestine but still qualify thanks to their hosts defeating Afghanistan.
The eight teams confirmed for the quarter-finals are: Oman, IR Iran, Japan, Bahrain, UAE, Lebanon, Palestine and Malaysia.
A full match schedule for the next stage of the competition will be released after the final group games have been played on Tuesday.
UAE 3-2 Lebanon (Group B)
A double from Waleed Beshr helped the UAE come from behind to defeat Lebanon and finish top of Group B.
Having qualified for the next round already, the battle between UAE and Lebanon was for the Group B top spot. Hussein Abdullah scored his fifth goal of the tournament to open the scoring and give Lebanon an early lead.
Then, against the run of play, they went two ahead. But Waleed Beshr steered in a well-rehearsed volley to bring the Emirati to just one goal behind going into the second period.
Hesham Al Muntaser drove in a powerful free-kick to level up, and then a second goal from Beshr wrapped up the points, when Lebanon failed to find the net again, despite Hassan Kadi smashing a penalty against the crossbar.
UAE will take on Malaysia in the next round while Lebanon will face unbeaten Palestine.
China PR 9-3 Kyrgyz Republic (Group B)
China PR scored nine to take third place in Group B as Kyrgyz Republic end their time in Thailand without a win.
Despite having crashed out of the competition after failing to win their opening games, there was still time for China to administer a beating against their last-remaining group rivals.
Even with an injury and suspension-hit squad, it was the Kyrgyz Republic who took the lead, when Diushenov Urmat dispossessed the defender to find the net first. China managed to equalize before the whistle but the match stayed tight.
The second period saw China move into another gear. Han Xuegeng scored his second, while Bai Fan, Liu Haoran, Cai Weiming and Liu Yisi also got on the scoresheet. Almazbekov Erbol scored a second for Kyrgyz Republic but it was little more than a consolation as the final period began with them trailing 6-2.
A number of Kyrgyz defensive errors lead to the Amarelle’s men extending their already-considerable lead, and Han Xuegeng completed a hat-trick in the process, taking the side’s final tally to nine and securing a third-place finish.
Malaysia 5-6 Palestine (Group A)
A hat-trick from Maisara Al Bawwab meant that Palestine maintained their unbeaten run to top Group A, while Malaysia also qualify despite the defeat.
This match burst into life immediately, with goals flying in directly from the get-go. Palestine scored straight from the kick-off, but Malaysia had a reply as Ridhwan followed up a parried save to make the score level.
Not long after, Zaharim Yusof’s bobbling shot snatched the lead and at the first interval ended with Malaysia in front. But the match remained tight through the second period with the score increasing to 3-2, but then, three goals in a single minute brought Palestine back into the match, and the second whistle blew at 4-4.
Al Bawwab repeated his specialty shot directly from kick-off to edge the Palestinians ahead. Islam Abuobayda extended the lead to 4-6 but a sliced clearance by Yousef Shaladan flew into the defender’s own net and gifted the Malaysians a lifeline.
But 5-6 is how the score ended, and Malaysia had their hosts Thailand to thank for their passage to the next round, after they defeated Afghanistan in the last Group A fixture…
Thailand 2-0 Afghanistan (Group A)
Afghanistan failed to qualify as hosts Thailand dragged them out of the competition with two goals.
Thailand were already out of the AFC Beach Soccer Championship, but that wasn’t going to stop them giving their final match everything they had, to try and take something from the tournament on home soil.
But Afghanistan just needed a single point to claim the second spot behind Palestine and win a place in the quarter-finals. However, the Afghans were simply unable to break down their Thai opponents, who looked the more dangerous from the first kick-off.
The first whistle blew with the tie still goalless, but the hosts finally broke the deadlock in the 16th minute, when Thakorn guided a low free-kick into the bottom corner. This slim lead remained intact until the final period when Tanandon stretch to hit a second into the roof of the Afghan net.
There was still time to turn around a very narrow lead but Afghanistan just could not mount a threating enough offensive to score even one, and join their hosts in being knocked off the long road to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay.
Stay up-to-date on the results, fixtures and standings of the AFC Beach Soccer Championship on the BSWW website.
RESULTS:
Thursday 7th March:
Lebanon 5-3 China (Group B)
Afghanistan 3-2 Malaysia *AET (Group A)
UAE 6-1 Kyrgyz Republic (Group B)
Thailand 2-5 Palestine (Group A)
Friday 8th March:
Bahrain 5-2 Qatar (Group C)
Iraq 2-5 IR Iran (Group D)
Japan 8-1 Kuwait (Group C)
Saturday 9th March:
Kyrgyz Republic 2-11 Lebanon (Group B)
Palestine 3-2 Afghanistan (Group A)
Chine PR 2-6 UAE (Group B)
Malaysia 5-4 Thailand (Group A)
Sunday 10th March:
Kuwait 2-5 Bahrain (Group C)
Oman 6-3 Iraq (Group D)
Qatar 1-7 Japan (Group C)
Monday 11th March:
UAE 3-2 Lebanon (Group B)
China PR 9-3 Kyrgyz Republic (Group B)
Malaysia 4-5 Palestine (Group A)
Thailand 2-0 Afghanistan (Group A)
FIXTURES
Tuesday 12th March:
Japan v Bahrain (Group C)
Iran v Oman (Group D)
Qatar v Kuwait (Group C)
Wednesday 13th March:
REST DAY
Thursday 14th March:
Quarter-final
Quarter-final
Quarter-final
Quarter-final
Friday 15th March:
Semi-final
Semi-final
Saturday 16th March:
REST DAY
Sunday 17th March:
Third-place play-off
FiNAL
