Raajiv Tripathi
DOHA
Hosts Qatar continued with their incredible run of success on the second day of the men’s handball competition of the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019.
Having stunned former double world champions Croatia and bronze medallists Hungary in their first two matches, Al Annabi handed straight defeats to Uruguay and Tunisia as well at the Al Gharafa Club on Saturday.
In the morning, the home team had to battle hard in the opening set before they wrapped up a 2-0 triumph against the South Americans 19-18, 22-18. Right winger Hani Kakhi produced splendid attacks and collected eight points from 11 attempts. Specialist Mohamed Hassan added four off six attempts.
Qatar’s goalkeepers Ali Garba and Rasheed Yusuff continued to excel during the preliminaries. It was the former, who produced seven saves in 24 attempts to keep the rivals at bay. For Uruguay, Miranda Rodriguez (seven off 13) and Rodriguez Mayada (six off seven) were the principal scorers.
Later in the evening, five-time Asia champions Qatar returned to the court and found no problems whatsoever before coasting past Tunisia 18-12, 18-14 to take their winning streak to four matches. On Sunday, Qatar will face Spain, the former three-time European champions, in their last pool game.
Qatar’s coach Khaled Hassan was thrilled with his team’s string of sensational performances. "We did’t expect this kind of stuff from my team. On the first day, I’d hopes that we could win a match. But my players put in a great show and we beat very difficult teams like Croatia and Hungary.
"But today also, my team continued to do well and we managed to claim full points. The schedule is quite tough and my players looked a bit tired. Now we have topped the pool and will play the last game against Spain who have already lost two matches.”
He said the other pool is also having strong teams like Denmark, Brazil, Sweden and the US. Even Australia are also good. The going has been good for us till now and we’ve to keep up our superb run of exciting victories. Each match in the knockout is going to be demanding and we can’t afford to have any slip-ups.”
Spain, after having already lost to Croatia and Hungary, are in the fourth spot in the group. Croatia, also twice world runners-up, are in the second place behind Qatar. In the third spot are Hungary, while Uruguay and Tunia are placed fifth and sixth.
Only four top teams will advance to the medal round, while the other two will be involved in the minor placing playoffs.
Just as Qatar are having a hot run, European champions Denmark have also been riding a crest of surprise results in Group A.
They stunned five-time world champions Brazil en route to topping the pool. Their other wins came off against Sweden, the USA and Australia. Sweden, the USA and Australia are still in the contention for two spots for entering the knock-out. Oman have lost all the four matches so far.
Qatari spikers come through opener
In the absence of Ahmed Tijan, who is nursing a leg injury, Qatar faced some tense moments but managed to lift their performance, pulling off a fine 2-1 victory against Indonesia in their Pool in the 4x4 beach volleyball.
Cherif Younousse, who has three FIVB Beach World Tour bronze medals under his belt in company of Tijan, provided the much-needed spark when his two successive points pulled Qatar 11-7 clear. From this point, the hosts firmly took the match in their grip before romping through the tie-breaker to complete a 16-21, 21-14, 15-4 victory. In all, Younousse had a match-high 15 points, including six blocks.
Other players Seifeddine Elmajid, Ziad Benlouaer and Denis Messelmani combined well with Younousse to collect important points.
Qatar’s coach Mariano Baracetti commented after the match: "It is a very good beginning for us. We knew that Indonesia have a good players, good technique and good physical conditions. But we didn’t know about their level as a team.
"Each match is going to be tough. It is a new format and new experience. We’re adjusting and will try to improve in next matches,” the former world champ from Argentina added.
Younousse said: "The first match is always difficult. Now we’ve won it and the butterflies are gone. We are in a tough group with the USA, Germany and Indonesia. The victory has given us some feeling of relaxation and we’re ready for the next challenge.RESULTSMen’s beach handball (preliminaries)
Group A: USA bt Oman 20-15, 16-12; Denmark bt Sweden 25-20, 19-12; Brazil bt Australia 27-9, 20-12; Sweden bt USA 23-18, 19-18; Denmark bt Brazil 23-21, 19-18; Australia bt Oman 18-19, 20-14, 7-6.
Group B: Qatar bt Uruguay 19-18 22-18; Hungary bt Spain 21-20, 19-16; Croatia bt Tunisia 22-18, 16-14; Qatar bt Tunisia 18-12, 18-14; Croatia bt Spain 28-31, 20-18, 9-8; Uruguay bt Hungary 20-19, 14-15, 9-8.
Women’s beach handball (preliminaries)
Group A: Argentina bt USA 18-20, 19-11, 9-6; Denmark bt Hungary 16-11, 14-20, 9-6; Brazil bt Tunisia 18-3, 20-4; Brazil bt Hungary 15-14, 20-8; Denmark bt USA 21-16, 20-6; Argentina bt Tunisia 18-8, 23-6.
Group B: China bt Australia 15-13, 17-14; Spain bt Poland 16-7, 12-16, 7-6; Greece bt Vietnam 24-22, 16-15; Greece bt Poland 20-21, 18-14; Spain bt Australia 16-11, 22-6; Vietnam bt China 23-16, 26-15.
Men’s beach volleyball (preliminaries)
Group A: Qatar bt Indonesia 16-21, 21-14, 15-4; Germany bt USA 21-19, 14-21, 15-13.
Group B: Australia bt Chile 21-14, 21-17; Poland beat Mozambique 23-21, 24-22.
Women’s beach volleyball (preliminaries)
Group AcTypeface:> Brazil beat Nigeria 21-7, 21-10, USA beat Czech Republic 21-18, 21-15.
Group B: Australia beat Gambia 21-11, 21-7, Vanuatu beat Canada 21-18, 21-19.
DOHA
Hosts Qatar continued with their incredible run of success on the second day of the men’s handball competition of the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games Qatar 2019.
Having stunned former double world champions Croatia and bronze medallists Hungary in their first two matches, Al Annabi handed straight defeats to Uruguay and Tunisia as well at the Al Gharafa Club on Saturday.
In the morning, the home team had to battle hard in the opening set before they wrapped up a 2-0 triumph against the South Americans 19-18, 22-18. Right winger Hani Kakhi produced splendid attacks and collected eight points from 11 attempts. Specialist Mohamed Hassan added four off six attempts.
Qatar’s goalkeepers Ali Garba and Rasheed Yusuff continued to excel during the preliminaries. It was the former, who produced seven saves in 24 attempts to keep the rivals at bay. For Uruguay, Miranda Rodriguez (seven off 13) and Rodriguez Mayada (six off seven) were the principal scorers.
Later in the evening, five-time Asia champions Qatar returned to the court and found no problems whatsoever before coasting past Tunisia 18-12, 18-14 to take their winning streak to four matches. On Sunday, Qatar will face Spain, the former three-time European champions, in their last pool game.
Qatar’s coach Khaled Hassan was thrilled with his team’s string of sensational performances. "We did’t expect this kind of stuff from my team. On the first day, I’d hopes that we could win a match. But my players put in a great show and we beat very difficult teams like Croatia and Hungary.
"But today also, my team continued to do well and we managed to claim full points. The schedule is quite tough and my players looked a bit tired. Now we have topped the pool and will play the last game against Spain who have already lost two matches.”
He said the other pool is also having strong teams like Denmark, Brazil, Sweden and the US. Even Australia are also good. The going has been good for us till now and we’ve to keep up our superb run of exciting victories. Each match in the knockout is going to be demanding and we can’t afford to have any slip-ups.”
Spain, after having already lost to Croatia and Hungary, are in the fourth spot in the group. Croatia, also twice world runners-up, are in the second place behind Qatar. In the third spot are Hungary, while Uruguay and Tunia are placed fifth and sixth.
Only four top teams will advance to the medal round, while the other two will be involved in the minor placing playoffs.
Just as Qatar are having a hot run, European champions Denmark have also been riding a crest of surprise results in Group A.
They stunned five-time world champions Brazil en route to topping the pool. Their other wins came off against Sweden, the USA and Australia. Sweden, the USA and Australia are still in the contention for two spots for entering the knock-out. Oman have lost all the four matches so far.
Qatari spikers come through opener
In the absence of Ahmed Tijan, who is nursing a leg injury, Qatar faced some tense moments but managed to lift their performance, pulling off a fine 2-1 victory against Indonesia in their Pool in the 4x4 beach volleyball.
Cherif Younousse, who has three FIVB Beach World Tour bronze medals under his belt in company of Tijan, provided the much-needed spark when his two successive points pulled Qatar 11-7 clear. From this point, the hosts firmly took the match in their grip before romping through the tie-breaker to complete a 16-21, 21-14, 15-4 victory. In all, Younousse had a match-high 15 points, including six blocks.
Other players Seifeddine Elmajid, Ziad Benlouaer and Denis Messelmani combined well with Younousse to collect important points.
Qatar’s coach Mariano Baracetti commented after the match: "It is a very good beginning for us. We knew that Indonesia have a good players, good technique and good physical conditions. But we didn’t know about their level as a team.
"Each match is going to be tough. It is a new format and new experience. We’re adjusting and will try to improve in next matches,” the former world champ from Argentina added.
Younousse said: "The first match is always difficult. Now we’ve won it and the butterflies are gone. We are in a tough group with the USA, Germany and Indonesia. The victory has given us some feeling of relaxation and we’re ready for the next challenge.RESULTSMen’s beach handball (preliminaries)
Group A: USA bt Oman 20-15, 16-12; Denmark bt Sweden 25-20, 19-12; Brazil bt Australia 27-9, 20-12; Sweden bt USA 23-18, 19-18; Denmark bt Brazil 23-21, 19-18; Australia bt Oman 18-19, 20-14, 7-6.
Group B: Qatar bt Uruguay 19-18 22-18; Hungary bt Spain 21-20, 19-16; Croatia bt Tunisia 22-18, 16-14; Qatar bt Tunisia 18-12, 18-14; Croatia bt Spain 28-31, 20-18, 9-8; Uruguay bt Hungary 20-19, 14-15, 9-8.
Women’s beach handball (preliminaries)
Group A: Argentina bt USA 18-20, 19-11, 9-6; Denmark bt Hungary 16-11, 14-20, 9-6; Brazil bt Tunisia 18-3, 20-4; Brazil bt Hungary 15-14, 20-8; Denmark bt USA 21-16, 20-6; Argentina bt Tunisia 18-8, 23-6.
Group B: China bt Australia 15-13, 17-14; Spain bt Poland 16-7, 12-16, 7-6; Greece bt Vietnam 24-22, 16-15; Greece bt Poland 20-21, 18-14; Spain bt Australia 16-11, 22-6; Vietnam bt China 23-16, 26-15.
Men’s beach volleyball (preliminaries)
Group A: Qatar bt Indonesia 16-21, 21-14, 15-4; Germany bt USA 21-19, 14-21, 15-13.
Group B: Australia bt Chile 21-14, 21-17; Poland beat Mozambique 23-21, 24-22.
Women’s beach volleyball (preliminaries)
Group AcTypeface:> Brazil beat Nigeria 21-7, 21-10, USA beat Czech Republic 21-18, 21-15.
Group B: Australia beat Gambia 21-11, 21-7, Vanuatu beat Canada 21-18, 21-19.