Nikola Eklemovic (R) of Qatar’s Al Sadd tries to score next to goalkeeper Mohamed Ibrahim of Eygpt’s Zamalek during the Super Globe 2011 handball tournament in Doha yesterday
By N.D. Prashant/Doha


A packed house at the Al Gharafa Sports Complex got their money’s worth as an absorbing contest between last year’s finalists Al Sadd  of Qatar and Zamalek of Egypt in the IHF Super Globe Handball Tournament ended in a 37-37 stalemate yesterday.
But there was disappointment for the other Qatar team, Al Rayyan, when they were pipped 30-28 in another thriller by Lebanon’s Al Sadd.
For Qatar’s Al Sadd, Renato Sulic scored the crucial goal just before the final hooter to save the day for the hosts. The visitors went into the break with a two goal cushion at 17-15.
The change of ends kept everyone at the edge of their seats and the match kept swinging from one end to another like a pendulum. Al Sadd fought their way back into the match by levelling at 18-18 but quickly squandered their advantage. Two crucial saves from Zamalek custodian Sharf Ibrahim Mohammed and the hosts were again forced to do the catching up as they trailed 21-23. Al Sadd, again, quickly rallied from that deficit to be neck-to-neck with the visitors at 25-25 and even went on to take a two point lead at 30-28.
But the Egyptian team, egged on by some strong vocal support, fought their way back and stole another two point lead at 35-33. As the clock ticked toward the finish, it was clear that it would be a matter of nerves. And here the experience of the European recruits came to the host team’s rescue.
Marko Vujin top scored for Al Sadd with 13 goals, while Ahmed al-Ahmr was the top scorer for Zamalek with 10 goals.
“It was a tight match but Al Sadd was not behind all through the game. We had our noses in front at times, especially after 20 minutes in the second session. It is still a good result for us,” said Al Sadd coach Ahmed Deabes.
The coach also dismissed suggestions that his team were under pressure playing at home. “I don’t think so. Sometimes such support can play vital role towards the end of the game but not throughout as we are one of the top teams here and used to such situations,” revealed Deabes.
Zamalek assistant coach Tarek Lotfi also hailed his team’s performance by saying, “There were some tight moments in the match and the decision from the referees knowingly or unknowingly went against us. However, to get such a result against a strong team like Al Sadd should do a world of good in the coming matches.”
In another match, reigning champion Ciudad Real of Spain, looking for their hat-trick of titles at the IHF Super Globe, thrashed Southern Stars of Australia 45-17 to register their second win in a row in group B action yesterday. As the score suggests, Southern Stars were simply no match for the mighty Spanish team. Ciudad Real players swamped the Southern Stars territory right from the start and kept up the pressure till the end. By the break, Ciudad Real had taken a healthy 21-8 lead with most of their players getting their name listed on the scoreboard.
Olexandr Shevelev (7 goals), Jonas Kallman (6 goals), Roberto Parrondo (5 goals) and Luc Abalo (5 goals) were the major contributors for Ciudad Real. For Southern Stars Kenneth Toerlen (6 goals) did the bulk of scoring.
Ciudad Real would be playing last year’s runner-up and local side Al Sadd today and the former’s coach Talant Dujshebaev was understandably keen on speaking about that key contest.  “Tomorrow, we have an important match and only then we can decide on our next step. This was a good contest but our focus is on the match against Al Sadd,” said a relaxed looking Dujshebaev.
In the group ‘A’ first match of the day, Germany’s Thw Kiel defeated Brazilian team Esporte Clube Pinheiros 36-29 to register their second successive win in the tournament. Kiel led 21-14 at breather. With this loss, Pinheiros’ chances have been severely dented as they had split points after drawing against Qatar’s Al Rayyan in the opener.
Today’s matches: 2pm Al Sadd (LIB) vs Esporte Clube Pinhieros (BRA); 4pm Zamalek (EGY) vs Southern Stars (AUS); 6pm THW Kiel (GER) vs Al Rayyan (QAT); 8pm Al Sadd (LIB)vs Al Rayyan (QAT).