Czech Republic labour to beat Belarus in Men's Handball World Championships

TOPSHOTS Iceland's goalkeeper Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson (C) tries to save a shot during the 24th Men's Handball World Championships Eighth Final EF5 match between Iceland and Denmark at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall in Doha on January 26, 2015. AFP PHOTO

Czech Republic laboured to defeat Belarus 32-31 in a thrilling all-European President's Cup final played at the Duhail Handball Sports Hall on Tuesday evening in the ongoing 24th Men's Handball World Championship.

It was a tight match as the teams forced a 28-28 draw in regulation time to force the match to penalties where Czech netted four penalties against the opponent's three to lift the title.

With the win, Czech Republic claimed position 17 in the competition. Czech Republic took an early 6-3 lead in the eighth minute before the Rutenka brothers Siarhei and Dzianis scored four goals in a row to steer Belarus to a 7-6 lead. This lead lasted only two minutes before Jakub Hrstka equalised.

Czech Republic later organised themselves to go into the break leading 41-13 in the tightly contested match.  

The second half seemed like a replay of the first and it was the Czech Republic who took the early lead with Belarus in hot pursuit.

After 47 minutes of play, Siarhei Rutenka scored his 10th goal of the evening for a 23-23 tie, giving room for more drama that saw each team struggle to outwit each other. Just as Belarus thought they had won the match, Czech Republic's Ondrej Zdrahala scored one minute before the end to make it 28-28 at the final whistle, leading to post-match penalties to determine the winner.