Poland’s Michal Jurecki (centre) tries to get past Russia’s Alexander Pyshkin during their match yesterday. PICTURE: Othman al-Samaraee

By Joe Koraith/Lusail

Group D is turning out to be one of the most keenly-contested battles of the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship. And yesterday that was on display at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall as Germany took on Denmark in what was the biggest match of the day. It ended with both teams having to share the spoils as the thrilling match ended 30-30. Germany had won both of their matches while Denmark had a draw and a win in their kitty.  
It was the German team which was in dominance early on and was constantly in lead till the 17th minute of the first half which was when Denmark got their noses ahead for the first time. Germany took back the advantage and then stayed ahead till the end of the first half. In the second half, Germany started with a bang and had a three-point lead by the 41st minute. Though Denmark fought back to reduce the deficit to one point, the Germans restored their three-point advantage in the 50th minute.
But then the Danes found their rhythm and were able to pull off turnovers and put in a strong finish to draw level in the 55th minute and then manage to prevent Germany from scoring in the final minute of the game for it to finish 30-30. The Germans were looking like the better team but the Danes were able to hang on to the coattails of their opponents and force a draw.
Germany now top the group standings with Denmark in second place. Poland pulled off a last-gasp 26-25 victory against Russia to climb up to third. And in the other Group D match, Argentina easily defeated Saudi Arabia 32-20 to take fourth place. As it stands it looks like the Russians will lose out on a spot in the pre-quarterfinals unless they win and other results go in their favour.    

POLAND BOUNCE BACK FOR A WIN
This was probably a match that Russia should have won. But Poland put in a gritty performance to sneak in a win. With just one minute and 10 seconds of the match remaining, Poland’s Adam Wisniewski scored what turned out to be the winner. The Poles were delighted with this victory considering they led only twice in the match.
“We were expecting a tough match, as Russia were undoubtedly our second tough opponent in this tournament. We did not get a good start, but we came back really well from being down 5-1,” Poland coach Michael Biegler said after the match.
Russia coach Oleg Kuleshov was left ruing his team’s lack of intent in the second half. “It was a very nervous match for us. We played a good first half, but I need to see the match again in order to decide why we made as many mistakes in the second half as we did.”
Russia had started well and had taken a 5-1 lead with nine minutes on the clock. But Poland goalkeeper Piotr Wyszomirski pulled off some good saves to claw back the deficit later in the half. Russia went into the break with a one-point lead at 13-12.
Seven minutes into the second half, Poland took the lead with the score at 17-16. Russia wrestled back the control but Poland came back strongly, despite being three goals down and then right at the end Wiesniewski flew in from the left wing to decide the game.
The result leaves Poland with four points and Russia with two.

ARGENTINA DOWN SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia are one of the wild cards in the tournament while Argentina have been a regular feature at this level. But that didn’t stop the newbies from putting up a strong fight, albeit a short one.
The Saudis were able to stay on level terms till 23 minutes of the first half. The score at this point was 9-9. The Argentineans had rested their star player Diego Simonet. And his return in the second half, changed the complexion completely. Argentina began to call the shots and put in a strong finish for a 12-point win margin.
“We played two different looking halves in this game. In the second half we concentrated on attack, resolving the problems which we had. We are happy with the result,” said Argentina coach Eduardo Gallardo.