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Defending champions THW Kiel of Germany stole a stunning 29-26 victory from the jaws of defeat against hosts Al Sadd in the opening round group ‘B’ match of the IHF Super Globe Handball Tournament here at the Al Gharafa Arena yesterday.
It could have been a memorable win and a morale-boosting start for Al Sadd but the match turned on its head with just minutes remaining in the second session. A series of defensive lapses and rash finishing from the forward line saw Al Sadd throw away the match after they had a seven-goal cushion going into half-time.
Al Sadd’s Slovenian goalkeeper Primoz Prost was simply exceptional under the bar and his fine saves early in the match allowed his side the much needed boost. After going on level terms till 7-7, Al Sadd scored six goals in a row to lead 13-7. After the change of ends, Filip Jicha kept THW in the game scoring three goals in quick succession. Though the lead was then narrowed down to 18-17 at one stage, Al Sadd’s Nikola Karabatic rose to the occasion and struck four goals to widen the lead to 22-18.
However, the match slipped from the hands of the home team once they were caught at 24-24. A pumped-up THW Kiel induced enough jitters in the Al Sadd defence line with some sudden bursts from which they couldn’t recover.
Four quick goals and it was now left for Al Sadd to do the catching up. The German side then tightened their defence to see off the remaining time to steal a fine comeback win. For THW Kiel, Marko Vujin shined with seven goals, while Dragan Gajic top scored for Al Sadd with eight goals.
“We played horribly in the first half. I think we played the worst game for a long time. But yes, we fought our way back in the second half. The defence was lot more strong and helped us to get home in the end,” said THW Kiel’s coach Alfred Gislason.
“Al Sadd had the advantage for most part of the game but our defense kept improving. We had to play this match straight after a long travel and that also effected. We have four new players in the side so it is understandable not being at the same level as last year.”
Despite the loss, Al Sadd coach Patrice Canayer was pretty pleased with the way his boys fought. “It was a high quality match and even though we ended on the losing side, I’m happy with the way our players fought. The players got a little bit tired towards the end. We started working together since Wednesday and had just four trainings together. But overall I’m very satisfied.” Qatar’s second team and wildcard entrant El Jaish also went down fighting their much superior rivals and last year’s runner-up Atletico Madrid of Spain 33-24 in their group ‘A’ match.
Egged on by a vocal home crowd, El Jaish battled hard in the first session and even led by two goals (13-11) at breather but inexperience and lack of bench strength came to the fore in the second stanza.
This being the first tournament of the season, understandably, the Spanish side took some time to get their acts together. But once they got into the zone, they kept gaining in confidence and gave enough evidence of being a force to reckon with, as the tournament progresses.
El Jaish playmaker David Spiler impressed in patches but failed to cause any serious dent to Atletico Madrid’s strong defense.
Yure Dobelec starred with six goals for El Jaish while Kiril Lazarow was the top scorer for Atletico Madrid with seven strikes.
African club champions El Zamalek from Egypt started their group ‘A’ engagements on a high with a convincing 33-24 victory over Pan American club team Champions Metodista Sao Bernardo of Brazil.
Earlier in the day, Asian champions Mudhar from Saudi Arabia, playing their first group ‘B’ match, made light of the men from ‘Down Under’ – Sydney University HC (32-27). At the breather, Mudhar led 15-12.
For the Saudi side, their Tunisian recruit Amine Bannour was the pick of the scores with seven goals while Diego Liamazares Liorente shined for the Australian team with eight goals.