Qatar’s Zarko Markovic (centre) in action against Chile yesterday. Markovic scored 11 goals; (right, above) Qatar fans cheer for their team yesterday. PICTURES: Thajudheen

 

By Yash Mudgal/Doha


Hosts Qatar and defending champions Spain registered contrasting victories in Group A of the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship yesterday at Lusail Multipurpose Hall yesterday.
Qatar breezed past Chile 27-20, while Spain beat Brazil, who had lost their opener to hosts, 29-27 for their second victories in the championship.
“Obviously I am very content with our second win in the tournament. I was positively surprised by Chile, though. They played very well, particularly after their time-out in the second-half. We played really well in the first-half and our defence was also good. We continued playing well for the first 10 minutes of the second-half. After that we slowed down a bit, but as I said, I am happy with our second win,” Qatar coach Valero Rivera said.
For Chile, it was their second defeat in a row, but they produced an improved performance than in their opening match which they lost 23-36 to Slovenia.
Chile tried practically everything in defence, but none of the formations were enough to put a stop to Qatar’s attacking combinations led by right-back Zarko Markovic, who scored 11 goals.
The dominating presence of Markovic was also admired by Chile centre-back Guillermo Araya as he said: “It was almost impossible to stop Markovic. He is simply superb. But we are happy with improvement in our game today.”
The Chileans were only able to match their opponents at 3-3 after eight minutes.
From that point, Qatar continued to increase their lead more or less throughout the first-half. Having went ahead 5-3, they increased the lead to 8-4 and later to 12-6 before going into the break with a six-goal lead.

Qatar Coch Valero Rivera

Qatar goalkeeper Goran Stojanovic was superb at the post and along with Hassan Mabrouk he created a solid wall of defence and saves in the first-half.
From the start of the second-half, Stojanovic continued his fine performance and even improved his level at times. He brought off 11 blocks in 31 attempts, including two seven-meter shots. Qatar’s counter-attacks were also in full flow and allowed the hosts to increase their lead even further.
The seven-goal win took the hosts closer to a pre-quarterfinal spot.
“It’s nice that we’ve won two games so far. We must play well to win other games. We’ll go step by step and try to win the next game,” said Qatar’s goalkeeper Stojanovic.
“For me, this was my first game. I’m satisfied with my performance. I gave away only 20 goals. This is the world championship and I feel that we can always improve. I’m looking forward to next match now,” he added.
Line player Marco Oneto, who hit the net five times for Chile, said: “Playing against the hosts is always a challenge. Qatar has a very strong team and the only way to put them in trouble was to put them under pressure. Although we lost, we were more consistent today unlike yesterday when we gave up in the second-half.
Qatar’s right-back Abdulla al-Karbi praised Chile, saying, “It was not as easy a game as many people thought. Chile tried hard, but our defence didn’t let them threaten us. Winning the first two games doesn’t mean we are through yet, but we are closer to the next round.”
Talking about the next game against Slovenia, he said: “Slovenia is a very strong opponent, they reached the semi-finals in the previous world championship. We need to prepare well and play our best game if we want to beat them.”
Defending champions Spain were well aware that a win over Brazil would get them closer to the next round and their intentions were clear from the word go. In the initial stages of the game, the Brazilians showed resilience. They fought bravely and moments before the break, the Spanish advantage was down to a solitary goal.
In the beginning of the second-half the Brazilians even managed to turn the game and take the lead. From then on, the battle became very tight. Yet the Spaniards managed to keep the composure and remain organised in both attack and defence to emerge victorious (29-27) in a very tight game.
Spain’s top scorer was Joan Canellas with nine goals. Joint top-scorers for Brazil were Felipe Ribeiro and Guilherme de Toledo with five goals each.