Qatar boys’ team went down battling to Austria 17-20 at the ISF World Schools Handball Championships at the Ali Bin Hamed Al Attiyah Arena yesterday. It was the hosts’ second successive defeat after they were beaten by Poland in a Group ‘A’ clash on Friday. They now have just one win from three matches, having won against Morocco on the opening day of the championship.
Austria had a fruitful day yesterday, as they had beaten Poland earlier in the day 29-21. And they showed no signs of fatigue against Qatar to all but confirm their spot in the knockout stages.
Qatar team manager Ali Meddi now has an uphill task with just Denmark match left for the hosts to play, a match in which they need a win to keep any hopes of survival alive. Poland redeemed their chances in the group after an earlier defeat to Austria as they thrashed Morocco 29-17. The North Africans also lost their final match against Poland in what confirmed their exit from the competition.
The tournament for 16-18 year olds (born in 2000, 2001 and 2002) will run until next Wednesday (28 February). For the first time in 24 editions, the championship is taking place outside of Europe and the competition is set to be fierce with 19 girls and 18 boys teams from 21 countries across Africa, Asia, Pan America and Europe competing for glory.
Meanwhile, defending boys’ champion Turkey lost to Germany, while Czech Republic beat Georgia 36-12. Israel managed to get a win in the competition as they pipped Czech Republic 27-23. In the girls section, France scored a comprehensive 35-6 victory over Georgia in a Group D clash at Aspire Dome.
Denmark beat Croatia 30-18. Serbia fell to champions Hungary 35-15 in a largely one-sided match. The German girls were also in action and cruised past Israel 39-10, while Romania thrashed Turkey 35-18.