Sydney University’s Eric Charpentier tries to score against El Jaish during their final preliminary round match of the 2013 IHF Super Globe at the Al Gharafa Indoor Hall here yesterday. PICTURES: Anas Khalid
European champions HSV Hamburg and Qatar’s wild card entrant El Jaish marched into the semi-finals of the 2013 International Handball Federation (IHF) Super Globe from Group A yesterday.
The German club defeated hosts Al Sadd 30-29 in a thrilling encounter, while El Jaish kept Oceania champions Sydney University winless in the tournament with an easy 38-14 win here at the Al Gharafa Indoor Hall.
Sadd, who finished third last year, impressed with their ‘high-speed’ game and beautiful combinations in the first-half. After trailing 16-18 at the break, they were off to a good start in the second-half, but could not sustain the momentum as Hamburg increased their efficiency in attack.
Thanks to the efforts of strong Croat Domagoj Duvnjak they marched ahead to 23:17.
Qatari international Selvedin Omahic then gave hope to the hosts having scored five times in a span of mere seven minutes and brought his team within two points of their opponents at 23:25. The European champions, however, had the last laugh.
Zarko Markovic was the star for Hamburg with seven goals while Jansen Torsten and Domogj netted six goals each for the winners.
Mustafa Alkrad emerged as Sadd’s top scorer with seven goals, while Omahic ended with six conversions. Berkous Messaoud also netted five goals.
“We played well for 55 minutes, but then we missed to seal the deal earlier. We are happy that we have reached our goal to finish on top of the group. I am really looking forward to the semi-final against Sahel, but it will be a tough match. I saw some improvements and developments in my team today, so I am not afraid of the Tunisians,” Hamburg coach Martin Schwalb said.
“Everybody saw the big difference between both teams regarding the physical conditions and the preparation. But we played a good game against Hamburg and we are glad that we had this opportunity face an experience club like HSV,” Al-Sadd coach Arrouche Lakhdar said.
Earlier in the day, seven-time European league champions FC Barcelona Intersport topped Group B by defeating Etoile Sporting du Sahel 34-27 in their last encounter at the group stage.
Barcelona had to give it all to beat the spirited African champions from Tunisia in a battle of undefeated teams. Barcelona’s high profile new signing Kirik Lazarov showed his class as he scored four goals. Lazarov was well supported by Juanin Garcia, captain Victor Tomas and Nikola Karabati.
The Tunisian side played a great first half and put up a strong defence on show in the first 30 minutes. Sahel goalkeeper Mohamed Tajouri was superb throughout the match as he analyzed the attack of the Catalans perfectly to make several tough saves. Nidhal Amri, Maher and Zeinellabedin Ali netted four goals each for the African champions.
Brazil’s Taubate defeated Asian Champions Qatar’s Rayyan 27-26 in a thrilling Group B match of the day. Rayyan surrendered a six goal advantage to finish winless in the tournament. Filippov Vasilli and Bagaric Markonette scored five goals each for the Qatar club. The score was levelled for the first time in the match (22-22) at the 48th minute, but soon Taubate added two more goals to forge ahead. Rayyan managed to return back on track, leading again after a triple strike.
However, the Brazilians were strong enough to stand the pressure struck three straight goals to make it 27:25. Rayyan reduced the margin to 26:27 and then made a last gasp effort to score but goalkeeper Maik Santos saved the final shot by Marko Bagaric and it turned out to be decisive.
Andre Ribeiro, who was in fantastic touch yesterday, netted 10 goals to give the Pan-American champion Taubate its first win in the competition. But goalkeeper Santos emerged as the hero for the Brazilian club and by the end most in attendance only thought there was one match-winner, Maik the Magnificent.
“We were unlucky in the end after playing very well for 40 minutes. We could not finish the match in our favour, as Maik was superb in the end,” Rayyan coach Iljia Puljevic said.
Taubate coach Marcus Oliveira said, “We had three injured players today, so we had problems in the beginning. But when we changed our defence to a 5:1, we were successful. But of course we were lucky that our goalkeeper saved the last shot.”
Taubate, who finished third in the group, will face the Sydney University in the first match of the placement round tomorrow. Barcelona will meet El Jaish and Hamburg will take on Sahel in the semi-finals tomorrow.