Asian champions Qatar displayed superb fighting qualities in the first session but could not sustain the momentum and lost the semi-final to holders Egypt 26-34 in the men’s handball at the second Youth Olympic Games yesterday.

Egypt will take on Slovenia, who edged Norway 33-30 after trailing by a goal after the first-half, for the gold.

Qatar still have a lot at stake as they have a clash with Norway in the bronze medal match today.

Qatar showed both resolution and grit in the first half in which they had fallen behind by five goals (5-11). Faruk Colo, Jovo Damjankovic, Abdelaziz Helali and Amine Guehis struck a goal each to reduce the deficit to 10-11.

Egypt continued to score and Qatar managed to keep the margin within a goal and they finished the first half with Egypt just ahead by a goal (15-14).

But in the second session, things changed dramatically. French referees Karim Gasmi and Raouf Gasmi, who had supervised Qatar’s previous match against Slovenia, made some decisions at which the Qatari team management showed its displeasure.

After eight minutes into the second half, Egypt forged 18-16 ahead and Qatar again hammered a goal through Dhiab.

That was the closest Qatar could come to Egypt and the African champions then slowly wrested the game from Qatar and finished it with a eight-goal difference.

Aly Refaat led the scoring for the winners, striking nine goals in 16 attempts. Hady Morsy had a brilliant game and he had a perfect record of seven goals in as many shies. Omar Belal and Ahmed Abdelaal also lent a commendable hand to the top scorers. Belal contributed six and Abdelaal chipped in with five.

For Qatar, Guehis topped the scoring sheet with seven goals. Damjankovic netted four and Amor Dhiab, who had starred in his team’s Asian Youth Games gold medal victory against South Korea in Nanjing last year, also striking four goals. Helali and Colo both shared six goals, while Salem Braham and Moustafa Heiba got two each. Nour Ahmed had one goal to his name.

Hamad al-Qadi finishes 10th best in equestrian

Nothing less than a clear round could have brightened the chances for a medal for Qatari rider Hamad al-Qadi in the equestrian individual event.

With nine riders tied at the top after the first round, the pressure had begun to build at the Xinzhuang Equestrian Centre yesterday when the second round got underway. All the riders before Qadi had already suffered penalties and a couple had already got eliminated.

The atmosphere was more stifling for the young Qatari, who failed to clear the middle one in a triple combination and tipped the last hurdle as well. With overall 12 penalty points over two days of competition, he finished in a 10th best four-rider group.

Female riders outsmarted their male counterparts, winning two of the three medals. Emily Frazer, riding Exilio, clinched the jump-off after four riders had a zero penalty and were locked at the top.

The silver medal was bagged by Argentine Martina Camp and Australian Jake Hunter edged El Salvador’s Sabrina Rivera Meza for the bronze medal.

If Qadi had managed a clear round, he might have got a spot among the best five in the world. But penalty points denied him that opportunity.

“I needed some luck as there were plenty of riders with a medal chance after the first round. I had four penalty points on Saturday and the priority was to have no faults. But after three rounds of team and individual events and many practice sessions, all the horses were sort of dead. Mine had more problems than others as I felt he was not fully ready for the competition.

“As I said, I badly needed some luck but it was not to be. I hit two hurdles and could get 10th place only. These competitions are like that. You have to depend on borrowed horses. I feel 10th place is also an achievement, considering the fitness level of my horse,” the Qatari explained.

His coach Ian Kerr was, however, happy with Qadi’s show. “It is a big competition. It was a very good experience for him. He did a very good job. He could have got a better position yesterday, having a fence down. The fences are there to be cleared. That is the name of the game.”

Qatari runner Yousef’s 800m race today

Idriss Yousef will have several things in his mind when he races in the men’s 800m final at the Youth Olympic Games today.

His race is scheduled at 7.55 pm (2.55 pm Qatar time). Besides the quality field, the Qatari runner will have to bear intense pressure of medal as well.

With only the handball team and him left in the YOG, he will certainly try his best for a medal. But he has to be a bit tactical and wait for the right moment to strike. In the two-lap race heat, he was a bit too aggressive in the beginning, which he has to be slightly careful of. All the runners in the final are strong and he needs to save some power in his leg for a strong kick in the end, if he has to break the duck for Qatar.

Idriss had posted his career best time of 1:50.77, beating his personal and season’s best of 1:51.85 easily.

Others to qualify are: Myles Marshall (US), Mohamed Elamrani (Morocco), Geofrey Balimumiti (Uganda), Ryan Patterson (Australia), Tom Elmer (Switzerland), Morka Bacha Mulata (Ethiopia) and Godfrey Chama (Zambia).

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