Men’s Championship duel in crucial stages

 

Poland's team celebrates after their quarterfinal match of the 24th Men's Handball World Championship against Croatia in Doha. PHOTO / REUTERS

DOHA: Qatar will play Poland on Friday in the semi-finals of the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship.

Qatar defeated hard fighting Germany 26-24 in a dramatic match to be the only non-European nation to have qualified to this stage of the competition.

The match was played at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall on Wednesday evening in front of a huge crowd that came to support the team.

The hosts have put a much improved result compared to the previous edition where they finished in the 20th position.

Qatar’s coach, Valero Rivera who won the title in 2013 with Spain can now dream of lifting the title with only a step to the finals.

This was the first time the two teams were meeting in the competition with the hosts having a physical advantage compared to their opponents who had small bodies.

To the quarters, Qatar lost only one match against champions Spain in the group stage unlike their opponents who have recorded an unbeaten run in the competition.

Poland narrowing escaped a 24-2 scare from Croatia to book a slot in the semis in another thrilling encounter.

The defending champions, Spain continued their dominance to keep their unbeaten run in the competition with a slim but productive 24-23 win over stubborn Denmark in another fixture.

France proved their class after an easy 32-23 triumph over Slovenia in another one-sided encounter to improve from the sixth position from the previous edition.

The placement round of 5 to 8 will be played on Sunday at Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena with Croatia facing on Germany while Denmark entertains Slovenia.

At the same time, Macedonia finished in position nine ahead of Sweden, Iceland, Argentina, Austria, Egypt, Tunisia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Belarus, Russia, Bosnia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Chile and Algeria.