Czechs lift President’s Cup in shootout thriller

Czech Republic players celebrate with the winner’s trophy after beating Belarus in the President’s Cup final in a penalty shootout in Doha yesterday. (EPA)

By Yash Mudgal/DohaThe Czech Republic won the President’s Cup after defeating Belarus 32-31 in the final at Duhail Sports Complex yesterday.The match was only decided in a shootout, as both the teams had ended regulation time at 28-all.With the victory, the Czechs finished 17th in the overall ranking at the 24th Men’s World Handball Championship.“It was a really interesting and dramatic game. I think we were a little bit luckier,” Czech Republic coach Jan Filip said. Belarus started with a 5-1 defence, pushing left wing Ivan Brouka forward to the right side, almost in a man-to-man formation against the Czech left back Pavel Horak.It was the Czech Republic who got the better start going ahead 3-1, 4-2 and 6-3.Belarus managed to catch up at (6-6) mainly due to four goals from Siarhei Rutenka.It was Rutenka who also benefited from a penalty shot taking the Belarusians into lead at 7-6 a few minutes later.Belarus went two up at 8-6 and 9-7, but despite Rutenka’s eight goals in the first half alone, the Czechs got back into the driver’s seat and went ahead by two again.At half-time, the Czech Republic were leading by one (14-13).In the second half, Brouka moved further towards the centre of the court, but that did not stop the Czechs from going three goals ahead.Even as Rutenka’s scoring frequency went down — he even missed two penalty shots — Belarus kept fighting back.In the last 15 minutes, there was never more than one goal separating the two teams. And when it came to the shootout, the Czechs scored four out of five attempts from the seven-meter spot, while Belarus only managed to score thrice.Rutenka was the top-scorer for Belarus in the match with 12 goals, while Filip Jicha, Jakub Hrstka and Ondrej Zdrahala scored six each for the Czech Republic.“I am happy because I helped my team to win a trophy, but I don’t feel like a hero. I have to remind everybody that my teammate Martin Galia made three extraordinary saves during the regular match. Both of us made our contributions,” Czech goalkeeper Petr Stochl said.“For me it was the best world championship ever. I really enjoyed it. I have never experienced such high quality of services. You could call it an Olympic-style organisation. I would like to thank the people of Qatar 2015 for all they have provided us with over the past few weeks and months,” Belarus’ left back Rutenka said.In the earlier match, Russia defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 42-28 to finish 19th and Iran finished in 21st spot after defeating Saudi Arabia 26-22.“I see a bright future for handball in my country. We showed that we have the talent to progress and we are looking forward to taking part at other major international events,” Saudi Arabia’s left back Mohamed Alzaer said.Chile defeated Algeria 30-28 to clinch their third-ever win in history of world championship to finish in 23rd place.