Doha: Argentina and Iceland clinched the last two remaining pre-quarter-final slots at the 24th Men’s World Handball Championship.
In Group D, Argentina overcame a fighting Russia 30-27 to book a place in the knockout stage of the championship, while in Group C, Iceland got the better of Egypt 28-25.
Yesterday at Duhail Sports Hall, the Russians needed a win against Argentina in order to progress to the next stage.
The Argentinians could have afforded a draw which was enough for their appearance in the advanced stages of the tournament.
The Gladiators opened the scoring in the second minute and doubled the score a minute later. The Russians replied with one goal and from thereon Argentinians started to mount pressure on the Russians increasing their lead quite masterfully.
Diego Simonet, a major weapon in the Argentinian arsenal was particularly active in his team’s scoring efforts.
However, the Russians did not look particularly shocked and even managed to take the lead in the middle of the first half. Atman was instrumental in Russia’s efforts to catch up with the Argentinians.
One of Argentina’s key players Sebastian Simonet saw a straight red card in the 16th minute after hitting Ruissia’s Shishkarev in the face 9-7 to Russia.
This sending off kick started the Argentinian team’s efforts to regain control in the game.
In the end the Argentinians managed to retake the lead at the last third of the first period due to their coordinated team efforts 17-16 to Argentina.
Both teams started the second half with a frantic pace. The score was revolving around level terms for most of the second half, 23-23 in the 44th minute.
At the end of the match the Argentinians were leading with the 2-3 goals difference being visibly the better team in the field of play. The Russians look nothing but tired.
Shishkarev was Russia’s top scorer with seven goals.
Pizarro was the most prolific scorer for Argentina with 9 goals.
Argentina now move onto the knock-out phase and they will take on the winners of Group C Sweden or France on Monday.
At Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in Al Sadd, Iceland beat Egypt 28-25 in their last match to secure third place in Group C.
Czech Republic and Algeria missed the qualification race from the gropp and will continue in the President’s Cup.
Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson showed his class in decisive moments for the winners and emerged as top scorer with 13 goals, while Mahmoud Radwan netted five for Egypt.
In Group C, France beat Sweden 27-25 to finish on top.
The French team will play against Argentina at the start of knock-out stage on Monday, while Sweden will face Poland, the third team of Group D.
Jonas Källman showed all of his class with a series of powerful goals, eight in total, for Sweden.
Guillaume Joli, top scored with nine goals for France.
The Peninsula
