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The Qatar beach handball team scored a second straight win and qualified for the main round of the IHF Beach Handball World Championships in Heraklion, Greece, on Wednesday. The twice world championship bronze winners Qatar defeated New Zealand in straight sets 30–14, 28–10 to get two more points to their tally and finish second in Group D behind Brazil. Qatar had earlier beaten Portugal 2–1 on Tuesday after going down to five-time world champions Brazil 2-1 in their opening match. Brazil led Group D with six points, followed by Qatar (4) and Portugal (2) as all three of them advanced to the main round which features the top 12 teams. Brazil, who have featured in the finals of every edition of Beach Handball Worlds Championships since 2006, topped Group D to advance with an unbeaten record following their straight-set win (21-16, 21-14) over Portugal. From other groups, hosts Greece, Croatia, Uruguay, United States, Spain, Argentina, Denmark, Iran and Norway have also advanced. (TNN)
