Federico Pizarro of Argentina (left) celebrates a goal as Egor Evdokimov of Russia looks on during their 24th Men’s Handball World Championship preliminary round match in Doha yesterday. Pizarro scored nine goals. (Reuters)
By Yash Mudgal/Doha
Argentina tamed Russia 30-27 in a Group D match to enter pre-quarterfinals of the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship at Duhail Sports Hall yesterday.
Argentina will now take on Olympic and European champions France, who defeated Sweden 27-25 in a Group C match at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, in tomorrow’s knock-out round.
“We are very happy to go through to the next round. I am proud of the victory against such a strong team as Russia. And now we are ready for the new challenges,” Argentina coach Eduardo Gallardo said.
Argentina, who needed only a draw to advance, opened the scoring in the second minute and doubled the score a minute later. The Russians replied with one goal before Argentinians started to mount pressure increasing their lead quite masterfully.
Diego Simonet, a major weapon in the Argentinian arsenal was particularly active in his team’s scoring efforts. However, the Russians did not look particularly shocked and even managed to take the lead midway through the first half.
Pavel Atman was instrumental in Russia’s efforts to catch up with the Argentinians.
One of Argentina’s key players Sebastian Simonet saw a straight red card in the 16th minute after hitting Russia’s Daniil Shishkarev in the face.
This send-off kick-started the Argentinian team’s efforts to regain control of the game.
In the end the Argentinians managed to retake the lead at 17-16 towards the end of the first period due to coordinated team efforts.
Both the teams started the second half at a frantic pace. The score stayed neck-to-neck for most of the second half (23-23 in the 44th minute).
At the end of the match, the Argentinians consistently held a 2-3 goal lead, while the Russians looked nothing but tired.
“We showed in this game we can play on the highest level to the best of our abilities. Our next game is incredibly important,” Argentina’s right wing Federico Pizarro said.
Shishkarev was Russia’s top scorer with seven goals, while Pizarro was the most prolific scorer for Argentina with nine.
“It was a good win for Argentina. They wanted to win more than us. They proved it on the court,” Russia coach Oleg Kuleshov said.
In a replay of the Olympic 2012 final at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, Sweden put up some high quality defence against France from the start.
The starting trio of the French team – Daniel Narcisse, Nikola Karabatic and Alix Nyokas – faced difficulties beating Mattias Andersson, who was in good shape between the posts, thanks to the aggressive defensive block in front of him. The opening goal for France came just after their time-out in the seventh minute, when Guillaume Joli netted the first of his four seven-meter throws.
But Karabatic and his teammates made it 4-4 as strong defence also provided chances from fast-breaks. The biggest threat for the net of Thierry Omeyer, alongside prolific left wing Jonas Kallman, was youngster Viktor Ostlund, who put his team four goals up at 9-5 by the 18th minute of the match.
Towards the end of the first half, Michael Guigou and Joli levelled things at 11-11 before Fredrik Petersen scored his third for a Swedish lead.
Two world class goalkeepers – France’s Omeyer and Sweden’s Andersson – became a vital part of their teams, as both the team’s defences underperformed as the match progressed to an end.
Kallman showed his class with a series of powerful goals (eight in total), even from the left back position. Sweden led at 18-15 at the 43th minute.
The French created seven-meter chances for the unstoppable Joli (top scorer with nine goals), who had nine out of nine in the end.
France overtook Sweden after a goal by Xavier Barachet from a fast break in the 56th minute (24-23), but that was just an indication of the furious finish. With 20 seconds left on the clock, French left wing Kentin Mahe scored the decisive goal.
In the last match of the day at Lusail hall, twice runners-up Denmark defeated Poland 31-27 to finish second in Group D and will face Iceland in pre-quarterfinals tomorrow. Right wing Hans Lindberg scored six goals for the winning Danes, while right back Andrzej Rojewski scored five for Poland, who will play Sweden in the next round.
Czech Republic also defeated Algeria 36-20 in Group C match at Duhail Sports Hall. Filip Jicha was the Czech team’s top scorer with seven goals and Algeria’s joint top scorers were Ayatallah Hamoud and Hichem Daoud with five goals each.
TODAY’S FIXTURES
Pre-Quarterfinals
At Lusail Multipurpose Hall
Qatar vs Austria 6.30pm
Spain vs Tunisia 9.00pm
Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena
FYRO Macedonia vs Slovenia 6.30pm
Croatia vs Brazil 9.00pm
