WINNING START: Jubilant Qatar handball players celebrate their narrow 26-23 win over Tunisia at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing yesterday. (Pictures: Mustafa Abu Mounes)
Asian champions Qatar got their act together in the final five minutes to edge past Tunisia 26-23 in the opening match of men’s handball at the Youth Olympic Games yesterday.
At the Jiangning Sports Centre, Qatar tied first 2-2, 3-3 and then 4-4 before a push by the African team, led by Oussama Ghacem, sent them five goals clear by 17 minutes.
Despite suffering from some rough play by the rivals, the Asian champions however began reducing the margin but Ghacem, who struck seven goals in nine attempts, and Mustafa Haz Romdhane (four goals) kept Tunisia ahead. They had the five-goal advantage once more in the second session.
With 11 minutes to go, Qatar unleashed a 7-1 run to end the challenge of Tunisia.
Abdelaziz Helali reduced the gap to one goal (19-20). But two quick goals widened the deficit and before the panic buttons were pressed, Qatar managed to pull close.
Two goals each by Amine Guehis and Noomen Ahmadi suddenly pushed Qatar ahead by a goal with three minutes left for the finish.
Guehis slammed his sixth and crucial goal of the match in the 58th minute and soon, Helali netted his third goal of the match to hand Qatar a three-goal cushion. Anouar Ben Abdallah cut down the margin and Jovo Damjanovic smashed a goal to seal the victory.
Qatar were led by Guehis, who emerged as the top-scorer for the winners with six goals. Commendable support was offered by Noomen Ahmadi (five goals) and Amor Dhiab (four goals).
Qatar’s next match is against European qualifiers Slovenia.
“We will not celebrate this win as we have a strong match coming up against Slovenia.
“We’ll celebrate only when we ensure our entry to the last four stage. We’ll watch the match between Tunisia and Slovenia closely and then draw our strategy,” said Qatar coach Chouaib Kafi.
Earlier in a Group A match, defending champions Egypt got the better of Norway 28-27.
Elsewhere, show-jumper Hamad al-Qadi of Qatar and his teammates tried their best but it was not enough to alter their fortunes as the Asia team finished sixth after the second and final round. While Qadi’s performance took a slight dip yesterday, three members of the team put up a much improved show, compared to their performances in the first round. The Asia team finished sixth with 28 penalty points.
Europe, with a dominant display and zero penalty points, clinched the gold medal. Matias Alvaro (Italy), Michael Duffy (Ireland), Filip Agren (Sweden) and Lisa Nooren (Netheralands) all had impressive clear rounds and left their team’s result in no doubt whatsoever.
In shooting, Abdullah Zain al-Sunaidi fell victim to big stage nerves and finished 12th in the 10m air rifle competition.
The 17-year-old Qatari did not start and finish well and as a result, he could log only 609.6 points and missed being among the best eight to earn the right to play the finals.
Sunaidi launched the qualification round with 101.8 and followed it up with 101.9.
Then for three successive series, he shot 102-plus. However, he ended poorly to have only 99.1, which potentially cost him a spot in the finals.
