1. sports
2. handball

AL ATTIYAH
WINS AGAIN
TO TAKE FULL
COMMAND
IN DAKAR
RALLY
PG 29
FRIDAY JANUARY 16, 2015
FLEETWOOD HEADS ‘YOUNG GUNS’ AT
COMMERCIAL BANK QATAR MASTERS PG 29
24TH MEN'S WORLD HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"With the intensity of the game, I think the players now know any wrong pass, wrong control can
make a big difference in the game and you could see that today." – Djamel Belmadi
HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINS
Sheikh Joaan dedicates tournament to the children of the world
The following is an excepert of the speach of HE
Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad
al Thani, the President of
Qatar 2015 Organising
Committee.
T is my pleasure to welcom e our honoured
guests from around
the globe, and particularly the 24 participating countries at the opening
of the 24th Men’s Handball
World Championship Qatar
2015, and I would also like to
thank them for their participation in the championship.
I am honoured to extend my deepest gratitude
and appreciation to HH
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al Thani, the Emir of the
State of Qatar, for his endless support to the sports
in our country, which is
aligned with the key pillars
of Qatar National Vision
2030. Inspired by this vision, countless efforts have
been deployed to establish
impressive sports landmarks with international
standards, to help guide local institutions to support
sport and athletes. Thankfully, Qatar has become a
global sport destination
uniting people from all
“I
The Emir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani during the opening ceremony of the 24th Men's Handball World Championship at the Losail Multipurpose Hall on Thursday.
QNA
DOHA
THE Emir His Highness
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al
Thani officially declared open
the 24th IHF Men's Handball
World Championship - Qatar 2015 in the presence of a
number of heads of state and
participating delegations at
the Losail Multipurpose Hall
in Losail on Thursday.
The opening ceremony
was attended by the Deputy
Emir His Highness Sheikh
Abdullah bin Hamad al Thani, HH Sheikh Jassim bin
Hamad al Thani, the Personal Representative of HH the
Emir and HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al Thani.
The ceremony was also
attended by a number of the
country's guests , in addition
to their excellencies sheikhs,
ministers, senior sports officials and mass of people .
HH the Emir wished all
participating teams and fans
success and a pleasant stay.
HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, Chairman of
the Organising Committee
of the IHF World Handball
Championships expressed
his gratitude and thanks to
HH the Emir for his unlimited support for sports in Qatar, which comes within the
pillars of Qatar's Vision 2030
which is aimed at mobilising
all potentials to create a great
legacy in sports that is of global standards.
In his speech on the occasion, President of the International Handball Federation (IHF) Hassan Mustafa
expressed his pleasure at
taking part in the opening
ceremony of the 24th Men’s
Handball World Championship, which he said is con-
sidered the most prestigious
championship of the IHF,
and the first to be held in the
Gulf region.
He also extended his
deepest appreciation to HH
the Emir for hosting the
global event.
"We trust that it will be a
remarkable championship.
We also, thank HH the Emir
for his endless support for
Qatari handball which has
resulted in the country becoming a powerful force in
the game at all levels especially in Asia.
"Qatar is the only coun-
try worldwide to celebrate a
National Sport Day with the
support of its leaders’ and
deep belief in sport investment among nationals. Qatar has spared no effort and
financial support to establish new sport venues for the
championship which were
all built as per international standards and at record
time," he said.
He thanked the authorities led by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior,
HE Minister of Defence, and
HE Minister of Youth and
Sports for their efforts.
over the world in a safe and
competitive environment.
We dedicate this edition of the Men’s Handball
World Championship Qatar 2015 to the children of
the world. The proceeds of
tickets sales will go to the
Education Above All program “Educate A Child”, as
part of our efforts to support projects aiming to help
childhood and education.
We are gathered here
today after the combined
efforts and the dedication
done by the staff and volunteers team at the Qatar
2015 Organising Committee, backed by the Ministry
of Youth and Sports, the
Qatar Olympic Committee,
and local and international
institutions led by the International Handball Federation. So, we thank them all
for their hard work.
We have also ensured
that hosting this leading
sport event along with the
inauguration of the Lusail
Multipurpose Hall, will be
a memorable moment in
handball history. I am honoured to ask His Highness
the Emir of the State of Qatar to announce the opening of the championship."
Qatar 2015 Organising Committee President HE Sheikh Joaan
bin Hamad al Thani.
Qatar thump Brazil 28-23 in Championship opener
RAAJIV TRIPATHI
DOHA
QATAR launched the 24th
World Men’s Handball
Championship at the majestic Losail Multi-purpose Hall
with a stirring 28-23 victory
over higher-ranked Brazil on
Thursday.
The vital win for the
home players, which has
almost cleared the path for
them to match their best performance of 16th spot or go
better, came after a spirited
display by Man of the Match
goalkeeper Danijel Saric,
who effected 20 saves in 43
attempts.
In their first-ever appearance in the Portugal worlds
in 2003, Qatar had secured
the 16th place. Since then,
they could not repeat it in
their next three participations.
The win also avenged
Qatar’s only loss to Brazil 10
years ago. Qatar had suffered
a 25-30 defeat against the
South American rivals in a
group stage match in Tunisia
in 2005.
With this result, Qatar
also continued the trend of
the hosts winning the opening match. In the 2013 edition, reigning champions
Spain, under the current Qatar coach Valero Rivera, had
crushed Algeria 27-14. Sweden handed a 28-18 rout to
Chile in 2011, Croatia edged
South Korea 27-26 in the
2009 worlds and Germany
got past Brazil 27-22 when
they organised the championship in 2007.
A thrilling light and
sound show, followed by the
laser fireworks, kick-started
the championship in front
of the Emir, His Highness
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al Thani, IHF President Dr
Hassan Moustafa, Qatar
2015 Organising Committee
Chairman HE Sheikh Joaan
bin Hamad al Thani, QHA
President and Organising
Committee Vice-Chairman
Ahmed al Shaabi, Qatar 2015
Director General Dr Thani
Abdulrahman al Kuwari and
many dignitaries.
Inspired and animated,
Qatar worked up a good pace
SCAN TO LAUNCH A VIDEO
Qatari players celebrate after winning the opening match between Qatar and Brazil at the Losail
Multipurpose Hall on Thursday.
and slammed four goals in a
row from 4-3 to move 8-3.
Mahmoud Hassan Alla was
the driving force, cracking
five of the goals in as many
attempts for Qatar to wild
cheers from the packed
crowd of more than 15,000.
At one stage during the
first half, Qatar stretched
the advantage to more than
double 13-6 through Zarko
Markovic’s strikes. However,
Qatar’s progress got stalled
a bit with the ball being lost
upfront.
This allowed Brazil to
claw their way back and they
struck four goals in a row to
come withing two goals of
pulling level (12-14). Fabio
Chiuffa and Alexandro Pozzer injected some momentum
with three goals each.
In the post-interval period, Qatar just took time to attack. Once Brazil did manage
to inch close to Qatar (20-12)
but Eldar Memisevic, Markovic and Rafael Capote came
up with timely strikes to
widen the lead, which Qatar
defended before sealing the
superb triumph by five goals
difference.
For Qatar, Alla turned
out to be the top –scorer
with six goals in seven shots.
Markovic netted five in
10, Capote slammed four,
pivot Yousef Benali, Eldar
Memisevic and Bertrand
Roine got three each.
Chiuffa was the principal scorer for Brazil with
six strikes. Pozzer (five)
and Joao Pedro Silva (four)
were other notable contributors. Goalkeepers Luis
Ricardo Nascimento made
four blocks in 20 attempts
and Cesar Augusto Almeida
saved his team on eight out
of 20 shots, which restricted
the scoring a bit for Qatar.
"Today's match was tough
as expected but my players
gave their best, especially the
defenders. The goalkeeper
was splendid and his contribution was amazing. The
forwards need to improve, no
doubt and we will be working
more on that," said Qatar's
coach Valero Rivera.
Hassan Mabrouk (two),
Capote and Benali got temporary suspensions for Qatar.
Brazilian star player Felipe
Ribeiro, who has played 170
internationals, was red-carded following three 2-minute
suspensions. Toledo and
Santos also were sent out for
two minutes each.
RESULTS
Qatar beat Brazil 28-23 (halftime 15-12)
Scorers – Qatar: Mahmoud Hassan Alla 6, Zarko Markovic
5, Rafael Capote 4, Eldaar Memisevic 3, Bertrand Roine 3,
Youssef Benali 3, Kamalaldin Mallash 2, Hamad Madadi
1, Abdulla al Karbi 1
Brazil: Fabio Chiuffa 6, Alexandro Pozzer 5, Joao Pedro
Silva 4, Thiagus Santos 2, Arthur Patrianova 2, Lucas
Candido 1, Jose Guilherme Toledo 1.
FRIDAY’S FIXTURES
Group A
17:00 – Spain vs Belarus (Duhail)
17:00 – Slovenia vs Chile (Attiyah)
Group B
15:00 – Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Iran (Losail)
17:00 – Macedonia vs Tunisia (Losail
19:00 – Croatia vs Austria (Duhail)
Group C
19:00 – Algeria vs Egypt (Attiyah)
21:00 – Sweden vs Iceland (Attiyah)
21:00 – France vs Czech Republic (Duhail)
Group D
16-Jan 15:00 RUS - KSA 3 Duhail
19:00 POL - GER 9 Lusail
21:00 DEN - ARG 12 Lusail
26
Friday, January 16, 2015
QT Spotlight on Qatar 2015
OPENING CEREMONY
DAZZLES SPECTATORS
T
HE 24th Men’s Handball World
Championship opened with a dazzling ceremony featuring superb
lighting displays, original music and an
exciting atmosphere at the Losail Multipurpose Hall in Losail on Thursday.
The theme of the ceremony was
unity through sport, with more than
just handball represented in the stunning light displays and a global theme
that simultaneously celebrated the
spirit of host nation Qatar underlying
the entire performance.
The ceremony starred Qatari children from several local schools, the
Qatar Armed Forces Band and illuminated dancers that put on an energetic
performance to the delight of the crowd.
Breathtaking lighting displays added
greatly to the ambience in the arena, as
the court was transformed and the audience was taken on a striking journey.
The Qatar Army Military Sport Parachute Team and an exciting fireworks
display added extra entertainment for
those outside Losail Multipurpose Hall,
where the spectacular event was held.
The official song of the championship, Live It, was performed by 24
artists, each representing one of the
participating countries.
(PHOTOS BY JALAL PATHIYOOR)
QT Spotlight on Qatar 2015
The Deputy Emir His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al Thani at the opening ceremony in Losail on Thursday.
Friday, January 16, 2015
The Emir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani with IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa.
27
28
Friday, January 16, 2015
QT Spotlight on Asian Cup
QATAR LOSE TO IRAN
Roundup
World Football
Mourinho, Ronaldo named
Portugal’s greatest ever
LISBON Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has been awarded
the title of ‘Portugal’s Coach of the Century’ by the country’s football federation. The 51-year-old coach was feted
at a gala ceremony held as part of the commemorations
of the 100th anniversary of the Portuguese Football Federation on Wednesday. Mourinho has won two Champions
League trophies and is the first coach to win domestic
league titles in Europe’s four top footballing nations - Portugal, England, Italy and Spain. His current team Chelsea
are table-toppers in the English Premier League after 21
rounds of matches. Fifa Ballon D’Or award holder Cristiano Ronaldo was named Portugal’s best ever footballer.
Munich captain Lahm set to end
playing career in 2018
Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Haghighi and Qatar’s Mohammed Muntari vie for the ball during their Asian
Cup Group C soccer match at the Stadium Australia in Sydney on Thursday. (REUTERS)
Qatar’s coach Djamel Belmadi during their Asian Cup Group C
match at the Stadium Australia in Sydney on Thursday. (REUTERS)
Qatar’s dismal AFC campaign
ends, Belmadi still positive
DPA
SYDNEY
QATAR coach Djamel Belmadi has tried to pick out some
positives from a dismal Asian
Cup campaign which saw his
side eliminated from Group
C after only two matches following Thursday’s 1-0 defeat
to Iran. “The experience is
so important,” Belmadi said.
“Today our average age was
around 24-25 years old. Most
of our players hadn’t played in
a competitive tournament like
this. They can learn in many
ways.
“With the intensity of the
game, I think the players now
know any wrong pass, wrong
control can make a big difference in the game and you
could see that today. It was a
normal situation and then we
conceded a goal. I hope we
learn from that.”
But while Qatar gave the
ball away in the build-up to
conceding the winner, Iranian forward Sardar Azmoun
converted his chance in clinical style, displaying a killer
instinct notably lacking Belmadi’s side.
“If you don’t score goals
it’s always difficult to win,” he
said. “We have a lot of young
players. Our striker (Mohammed Muntari) is young too,
even younger than most of our
national team.
“This is his first competi-
“But a lot of them
can be present in this
(2018) World Cup,
especially when you
know that we don’t
have really massive
potential players in
Qatar.
tion, maybe his third or fourth
game with us. We have always
had a problem with this position (striker) in the past.
“I think in the future,
Muntari, will improve and I’m
happy with his performance.
Of course we need goals, we
didn’t score but I have confidence for the future.”
The future for Qatar contains, eventually, a home
World Cup in 2022 after the
2018 edition in Russia. And
Belmadi believes some of Qatar’s current team could feature on the global stage for
which the nation has never
qualified so far.
“There is a long time to go
to the (2022) World Cup,” he
said. “But a lot of them can be
present in this (2018) World
Cup, especially when you
know that we don’t have really massive potential players
in Qatar.
“We have our national
under-18 team who won the
Asian Cup two months ago so
for sure there are some good
players too. I think it will be
a mix between this team and
the U18s, with many players
of this actual team.”
But Qatar, anxious to
achieve success as soon as possible, are known for changing
coaches frequently. Regardless of what positives Belmadi
can find, it is debatable if he
will be given an opportunity to
build on them.
UAE score after 14 seconds, beat Bahrain 2-1
AFP
CANBERRA
ALI Ahmed Mabkhout needed just 14 seconds to put the
United Arab Emirates ahead
as they went on to beat Bahrain 2-1 on Thursday and secure a rare Asian Cup quarter-finals appearance.
With the Group C encounter meandering towards
a 1-1 draw, Bahraini captain
Mohamed Hasan deflected a
73rd minute free-kick from
Amer Abdulrahman into his
own net to hand the UAE a
second Gulf derby victory
in Canberra following their
opening 4-1 win over Qatar.
The UAE and Iran, who
beat Qatar 1-0 in Sydney, top
the pool on six points and
are through to the last eight,
with Bahrain and the Gulf
Cup champions eliminated
with a game to spare.
It is just the third time the
UAE have made the quarterfinals and first since 1996.
“This team brings a lot
of joy to our UAE nationals
and the people are happy and
proud,” UAE coach Mahdi Ali
told reporters. “This win will
help relax us a bit with regards
the pressure against Iran and
we will try to go again with the
same mentality.”
The
Emiratis
again
looked most dangerous going
forward, with their attacking
quartet needing a matter of
seconds to slice through a
leaky Bahraini backline for
Mabkhout to notch up his
third goal of the tournament.
A neat lofted ball by Omar
Abulrahman over the head of
Bahraini defender Mohamed
Duaij allowed Mabkhout to
steal in and finish low under
UAE’s Ali Mabkhout (centre) celebrates with teammates during an
Asian Cup match in Canberra on Thursday. (REUTERS)
goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed
Abbas to notch one of the
fastest goals ever scored in
the Asian Cup.
The UAE came close to
adding a second in the 16th
minute when some trickery
down the right by Mohamed
Abdulrahman led to a cross
for Ahmed Khalil but the
striker could only cannon a
shot against the post.
While the UAE attack
were purring, their defence
lacked the same dominance
and struggled to contain
the impressive Jaycee John
Okwunwanne, who was
causing numerous problems
in an entertaining first half.
The Nigerian-born striker headed the Bahrainis level
in the 26th minute, rising
above Hamdan Al-Kamali to
meet Faouzi Aaish’s inswinging corner.
Okwunwanne came close
to adding a second in the
29th minute when a Bahraini counter led to Rashed
Al Hooti crossing from the
left but the striker’s header
was pushed behind by Majed
Naser in the UAE goal.
Sadly, the second period
fizzled out as the sun set in
Canberra, with both sides
sitting deeper.
BERLIN World Cup winning Germany captain Philipp Lahm
has reiterated that he plans to end his playing career in
2018, in an interview with French paper L’Equipe published on Thursday. “That is a possible date. I will be 34
then. It will be the right moment,” the 31-year-old Bayern
Munich full back and midfielder Lahm said.
Lahm said he wanted to “quit at the top of my career”
and “remember wonderful years with Bayern” instead of
winding down a career in the United States or Qatar.
Lahm retired from the national team after last year’s
World Cup title in Brazil but still has big ambitions with
Munich, such as winning another Champions League title
following the success of 2013. “The feeling of winning
this competition is so exhilarating that I definitely want to
win it again before I end my career,” he said.
Brazil great Ronaldo announces
comeback plans
RIO DE JANEIRO Brazil great Ronaldo has revealed plans
to make a comeback to football with US second-tier club
Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The 38-year-old said on Wednesday he is targeting a return for the Strikers’ first match of
the North American Soccer League season against New
York Cosmos on April 4, reported Xinhua. “It isn’t easy to
get fit. I will try. I will train a lot,” Ronaldo said at a press
conference to announce he has become a part owner of
the Florida-based club. “I love to play. That was my big
love. But when I retired, it was because of my body. I had
so much pain and so many injuries.” Ronaldo, voted FIFA
World Player of the Year three times, was a member of
Brazil’s 1994 and 2002 World Cup-winning squads. He
has not played since ending his career with Brazilian club
Corinthians in 2011. The former Real Madrid and Barcelona striker suggested be would use his connections to
attract high profile players from Brazil and Europe.
Man United sack scout for posting
offensive messages
LONDON English football club Manchester United have
sacked one of their European scouts for posting racially
offensive comments on social networking site Facebook.
According to Daily Mail, Torben Aakjaer posted several
anti-immigration messages. The 32-year-old Dane, in his
comments, supported Denmark closing its borders and
putting “extra personnel on every crossover and exit so all
that eastern Europe dirt and s**t can be kept out” and a
photograph of six pigs with a caption: “It’s time to deploy
our secret weapons against Islamists.” “The club received
the evidence, launched an immediate investigation into the
matter and has terminated our association with Aakjaer.
Algeria injury woes mount with
Zemmamouche withdrawal
MALABO Algeria have suffered another injury blow ahead
of the African Nations Cup finals with goalkeeper Mohamed
Lamine Zemmamouche ruled out after getting hurt in
training. The keeper became the third player named in the
original 23-man squad selected last month to be forced to
withdraw from the tournament in Equatorial Guinea, which
starts on Saturday. Zemmamouche suffered an injury to his
shin, the Algerian Football Federation said on Thursday. CS
Constantine’s Cedric Si Mohamed, who was in the squad at
last year’s World Cup finals, has been called up as Zemmamouche’s replacement ahead of Algeria’s Group C
opener against South Africa in Mongomo on Monday.
Jordan coach Wilkins backs Hayel after botched drugs test
REUTERS
MELBOURNE
Jordan’s head coach Ray Wilkins watches his players train at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane recently. (REUTERS)
JORDAN coach Ray Wilkins
has told the Asian Football
Confederation (AFC) to focus
on player welfare after a doping test for Ahmad Fayel was
cancelled when the striker
fell ill in the testing room.
The Jordan FA claimed
Hayel was mistreated during a test after the 1-0 loss to
Iraq in Brisbane on Monday,
complaining to the governing
body that he had arrived back
at the team hotel “suffering
from semi-coma, general
weakness and hypothermia”.
The AFC defended its
procedure but said its own
doctor decided to cancel the
test after Hayel experienced
dizziness, nausea and vomited in the testing room.
Wilkins said Hayel would
definitely miss Jordan’s second Group D match against
Palestine in Melbourne on
Friday and was a doubt for
the third and final clash
against Japan.
“I think the important
thing, you must always put
football in perspective,”
former England international
Wilkins told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
“But people are more
important. He lost so much
Wilkins said he had
not received any response to the team’s
complaint from the
AFC. The governing
body declined comment on the matter
when contacted by
Reuters.
fluid the other night when he
played and we were very, very
concerned as to his wellbeing.
He is now okay.
“The great thing about
when you have these situations with doping... you don’t
only lose water (playing),
you lose salts, you lose electrolytes and we must replace
them after the game.
“As soon as they leave
the pitch they have to go to
doping, I can’t come in and
speak to them. They’re down,
they’re depressed. We lost the
game against Iraq but I can’t
speak to these guys because
you take them off for doping.”
Wilkins said he had not
received any response to the
team’s complaint from the
AFC. The governing body
declined comment on the
matter when contacted by
Reuters. “I’ve not spoken to
anybody, which I expect,” the
58-year-old said. “It’s a big
competition, they’ve got lots
of things to consider but the
most important thing in their
consideration must be the
person and not what’s going
on here.”
Palestine also lost their
opening game, a 4-0 thrashing by Japan, and both teams
will be desperate for a win at
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive.
“I’ve gained a lot of
strength from our players,”
Wilkins said. “If you could
see how down they were (after Iraq), they care about
what we do and that’s very,
very important for me.”
The Domain
Qatar
Superbike,
Challenge
round resumes
Friday, January 16, 2015
29
ATTIYAH QUICKEST IN STAGE 11
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
QATAR Superbike (QSBK)
round 4 and the third round
of Qatar Challenge (QCH)
will resume at Losail International Circuit on Friday.
In the last round of QSBK
held in December, the defending champion, Alex Cudlin had an engine problem in
the first race of the round finishing in the 13th place and
unfortunately he couldn’t
take part in the race 2, so he
lost the lead of the championship for Mishal al Naimi,
who now is leading with 125
points.
Mishal al Naimi finished
second in the both races of
the last round as the winner
was the Australian Moto2
rider, Anthony West, who
took both victories and will
race also this weekend.
In the Supersport category, the leader is the Lebanese rider Mahmoud Tannir
wit 132 points and the Qatari
Jassim al Thani is second
with 120 points. In the last
round the winner was the
Saudi rider Abdulaziz Binladin.
On Friday, QSBK free
practices will be at 10:50
and at 11:35 and the Qualifying practice at 15:45. The
Superpole will be at 16:20.
The two races are scheduled
on Saturday 17th at 13:00
and at 15:50
In the third round of Qatar Challenge, with the victory of the last round and
taking into account that he
couldn’t get any points in the
first round, Mark Holroyd
stands third in the championship with 30 points, very
close to the second clasified,
Tim Stevens with 34 points.
The leader in the Qatar Challenge is Peter De Vido with
42 points who came second
in the last round.
Free practice and Qualifying practices on Friday will
be at 13:50 and at 15:45. The
race is on Saturday at 14:30.
Qatari driver Nasser al Attiyah competes in the wet seventh stage of the Rally Dakar 2015 between Iquique, Chile, and Uyuni, Bolivia, recently. (EPA)
Al Attiyah wins again to take
full command in Dakar Rally
AFP
TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO (ARGENTINA)
QATARI driver Nasser al
Attiyah continued his dominance of the Dakar Rally on
Thursday as he won his fifth
car stage and closed in a second success after his maiden
win in 2011.
The 44-year-old, who
won an Olympic bronze in
skeet shooting at the 2012
London Games, drove his
Mini to a 27sec win over
teammate Orlando Terranova, on the 520km route
(194km timed) from Salta to
Termas de Rio Hondo.
South African Giniel de
Villiers in a Toyota was third,
39secs back.
It was the 10th win in
11 stages for Mini who now
stand on the brink of a fourth
success in the gruelling annual event.
Al Attiyah now holds an
overall lead of nearly 30mins
on de Villiers with two days
until the finish at Buenos
Aires where the race began.
“I’m quite happy today
just to finish the stage. It was
194 km of very fast tracks,
like a world rally championship race with a lot of spectators.
“We opened the road and
that meant we had a good
base and we didn’t push a
lot. We’re just trying to keep
it like this. It’s very hard
the Dakar because when we
started on the second day it
was not easy until today.
“Now we’ll try to bring
everything back to Buenos
Aires and to win this Dakar
because it will be very important for me, for my sponsor
Red Bull, for Qatar, for everybody who supports me.
“You need to be careful
even until the podium. When
you finish the Dakar, it’s only
finished after the podium.”
Defending
champion
Nani Roma of Spain was
unable to start the stage al-
though his chances of winning the race were already
beyond doubt.
In the motorcycle category, Spaniard Joan Barreda
rode his Honda to a second
“I’m quite happy today just to finish the
stage. It was 194 km
of very fast tracks,
like a world rally
championship race
with a lot of spectators.”
straight stage win and fourth
overall while standings leader Marc Coma comfortably
protected his advantage with
two days to go.
The riders raced across
523km (298km timed) over
fast terrain to Termas de Rio
Hondo as KTM rider Coma
coasted home in sixth place
with the knowledge that his
closest rival Paulo Goncalves
(Honda) had been penalised
15mins on Wednesday for
changing his engine.
“We’ve managed to get
through it but it’s always
stressful when you have to
work on the bike, but everything is ok,” said Coma.
“There is still a difficult
day to complete tomorrow
(Friday) then again on Saturday. I’m not thinking about
the finish yet. We’ll see, because there are still a fair few
kilometres to go, but for the
moment I’m happy”.
Portugal’s Goncalves finished second behind Barreda, who followed on from his
stage win on Wednesday, but
now trails Spain’s Coma by
nearly 20mins with Australian Toby Price (KTM) third
at over 31mins.
Barreda picks up his 14th
overall stage win on the race
and would have been higher
up the rankings had he not
lost more than four hours
with mechanical problems
on the stage to Chile’s Pacific
Coast on Monday.
Fleetwood heads ‘young guns’ at
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
Tommy Fleetwood will be among the exciting young stars at the 2015 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
RISING English star Tommy
Fleetwood will be among the
exciting young talents looking to outshine the established stars at the US$2.5
million Commercial Bank
Qatar Masters next week.
Fleetwood,
Thorbjørn
Olesen of Denmark and
American Peter Uihlein, all
25, and 24-year-old Alexander Levy of France have all
won on The European Tour
and will seek to outdo the
likes of defending champion
Sergio Garcia and other leading stars Henrik Stenson,
Justin Rose, Ernie Els and
Charl Schwartzel at Doha
Golf Club when play gets under way on Wednesday 21
January.
Fleetwood won his first
European Tour event at the
Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in August
2013 and last year finished a
career-best 19th in The Race
to Dubai after runner-up
finishes in China, Wales and
Scotland and four further top
tens. The Southport-born
star, who turned professional in 2010, was even talked
about as a possible Ryder Cup
candidate and is now hoping
for a strong result in Doha as
he looks to emerge from the
shadow of compatriots Rose,
Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter
and Luke Donald.
“I’d like to play well at
the Commercial Bank Qatar
Masters and make my mark
in such a strong field, with so
many big names. I’ve been
happy with my form for the
past two years and I’m re-
ally keen to get my next win
on The European Tour,” said
Fleetwood, who will be competing in Qatar for the fourth
straight year.
“I had a great season
in 2014 and even though I
didn’t win again, it was my
best season yet in terms of
consistency and top-five
finishes. I want to establish
myself in the world’s top 50
to compete regularly in the
Majors and WGC events, so
I’m looking for good results
in big events like the Qatar
Masters.”
HH SHEIKH ABDULLAH BIN KHALIFA AL THANI DAY AT EQUESTRIAN CLUB
Julian Smart trained Taraf ridden by Jockey T. O’Shea receives HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al Thani trophy for purebred Arabians over 1600m at the Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club (QREC) in Rayyan on Thursday. Taraf is owned by
HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa al Thani.
30
Friday, January 16, 2015
QT Spotlight on Qatar 2015
Poland, Russia
and Germany
capable of shocks
in Group D
IDEAL QATAR WEATHER
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
THE Group D is probably
the toughest to make predictions about. Denmark, who
finished runners-up to Spain
two years ago, look to be the
strongest but they have not
shown encouraging form
during the test matches. Poland, Russia and Germany
are armed with some superb
individual players who can
change the course of any
match at any time. South
American champions Argentina and Saudi Arabia are
the teams unlikely to enter
the prestigious last sixteen
stage.
Group D teams:
Denmark
Poland
Russia
Argentina
Saudi Arabia
Germany
Flags of various countries who are in Qatar to participate in the World Men’s Handball Championship are fluttering proudly in Qatar.
France are favourites to
finish on top of Group C
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
FRANCE are maybe little
stronger than Sweden and
Iceland but France are famous that they start playing
after first round. Last place
that leads into the next round
will probably go to Czech
Republic. If they don’t have
some major handicaps they
shouldn’t have any problems
against Algeria and Egypt.
Argentina:
For Argentina this will be
their 10th World Handball
Championships similar to
Saudi Arabia they didn’t have
any good results. Their best
place was in Sweden (2011)
when they took 12th place.
Their boss is Eduardo Gallardo and goalkeeper Fernando
Garcia is player with most
matches for national team
(186). Argentina best scorer is
Sebastian Simonet who scored
394 goals from 130 games.
Group C teams:
France
Sweden
Algeria
Czech Republic
Egypt
Iceland
Iceland:
Iceland didn’t qualify for
the World Handball Championship but after the United
Arab Emirates withdrew,
Iceland got an invitation
from the IHF. This will be
Iceland’s 17th appearances in
the World Handball Championship. Their best position
was in Japan – fifth place
in 1995. Aron Kristjansson is their head coach and
Gudjon Sigurdsson (Barcelona, Spain) is the star of this
team. He is also player with
most appearances for national team (302) and most
goals scored (1595).
Egypt:
For Egypt this will be their
13th time they are playing in
the World Handball Championship. Their best position
was in France (2001) when
they took 4th place. Egypta
and Tunisia are the only
non-European teams to have
reached the semi-finals in
the worlds. Egypt had pulled
off a historical victory in
the 1995 worlds in Iceland
when they surprised the then
world champions Romania. Marwan Ragab is their
Saudi Arabia:
They appear to be the
weakest national team in
Group D. For Saudi Arabia
this will be their 7th World
Handball
Championship.
Their situation is similar to
Iceland; after Bahrain withdrew from World Handball
Championship IHF sent
them invitation. Their best
place on WHC was in Portugal (2003) and Spain (2013)
when they took 19th place.
They have one more Balkan
coach Goran Dzokic, from
players Mohammed Alzaer
has the most matches (130)
and most goals scored (180)
for national team.
Germany:
Germany position is
similar to Iceland and Saudi
Arabia, after IHF decide not
to allow Australia to compete
in WHC they sent invitation
to Germany to take their
place. For them this will be
their 22nd World Handball
Championship. They have
total 6 medals (3 gold; 2 silver; 1 bronze) but they are
at the top of the hosts list,
Germany hosted six World
Handball
Championships
until now. Germany boss is
Dagur Sigurdsson from Iceland and Carsten Lichtlein
has the most appearances
(184) for German squad.
Michael Kraus is the player
with most goals for current
national team he scored 391
goal from 118 games.
Russia:
Russia are one more “old
giant” in this group; this
is their 19 appearances (8
as Soviet Union and 11 as
Russia). Russia are holding
fourth place on our medal
table with 6 medals (3 gold;
3 silver) but their last medal
was in Egypt (1999) when
they lost in finals against
Sweden. Their coach is Oleg
Kuleshov who was member
of Russia Olympics team
in Athens (2004) where
they took the bronze medal.
Dmitry Kovalev is player
with most matches for national team 132 and Konstantin Igropulo is their best
scorer with 505 goals.
Poland:
For Poland this will be
their 14th World Handball
Championship and they got
1 silver and 2 bronze medal. Their last medal was in
Croatia (2009) when they
won bronze medal. Michael
Biegler is their coach since
2012 and goalkeeper Slawomir Szmal is player with
most matches (248). Karol
Bielecki is their best goal
scorer with 782 goals from
209 games.
Denmark:
Denmark are one of most
consist national teams in last
couple of World Handball
Championship. From last
four WHC they manage to get
3 medals (1 bronze; 2 silver)
on last WHC in Spain they lost
in final against Spain. Iceland
ex player Gudmundur Gudmundson is their boss and
Hans Lidberg is player with
most matches (192). Their
star player Mikkel Hansen
is best scorer with 558 goals
from 119 matches.
ROUND 1 SCHEDULE:
January 16 - 15:00 – Russia vs. Saudi Arabia
January 16 - 19:00 – Poland vs. Germany
January 16 - 21:00 – Denmark vs. Argentina
French players Cedric Sorhaindo (left) and Nikola Karabatic during a training session in Pornic, western France, recently as part of the
national handball team’s preparations for the 2015 Handball World Championship in Qatar. (AFP)
head coach and goalkeeper
Mohamed Bakir is player
with most appearances for
national team – 350. Lefthanded Ahmed el Ahmar is
best scorer for national team
with total 920 goals from
230 games.
Czech Republic:
For Czech Republic, this
will be their sixth time at
the World Handball Championship. If we take Czechoslovakia as a one team into
consideration, then it will be
their 18th appearance in the
WHC. Czech are one of rare
teams that have two coaches
- Jan Filip and Daniel Kubes.
Petr Stochl is player with
most appearances for national team (182) and Filip
Jicha is their best scorer with
816 goals from 148 games.
Filip Jicha (Kiel, Germany) is
also star player of this team.
Algeria:
Algeria are probably the
weakest national team in this
group. They are making their
14th World Handball Championship appearance. Their
best position was in France
(2001) when they took 13th
place. Reda Zeguili is their
coach and Belgacem Filah is
player with most appearances (73) and most goals scored
(109).
Sweden:
Sweden are the team with
most medals from the World
Handball
Championship;
this will be their 22nd participation. From 22 championships, they collected a rich
haul of 11 medals = 4 gold, 3
silver and 4 bronze. But since
their last medal in France
(2001) when they lost in final
against France, they have not
been able to do anything significantly. As their coaches,
Sweden have two of their
biggest handball players Ola
Lindgren and Staffan Olsson. Kim Andersson is player
with most appearances (209)
and most goals scored (751)
for this national team. Sweden have a lot of stars but
goalkeeper Mattias Andersson (SG Flensburg, Germany) is the biggest of them.
France:
France are just behind
Sweden on the lists with 20
World Handball Championship appearances. They have
8 medals so far (4 Gold; 1
Silver; 3 Bronze). Interest-
ing thing about them is that
their rise began in 1993.
Since then, from 10 World
Handball Championships,
they manage to bag 8 medals. Claude Onesta is their
boss since 2001 and with
Vladimir Maksimov, he is
the only coach that obtains
three major titles in handball - European Championship, World Championship
and Olympic Championship.
Jerome Fernandez is player
with most appearances (375)
and most goals scored in
France history 1443 goals.
Star of this team is without
doubt Nikola Karabatic (Barcelona, Spain).
ROUND 1 SCHEDULE:
January 16 - 19:00 – Algeria vs. Egypt (Attiyah)
January 16 - 21:00 – France vs. Czech Republic (Attiyah)
January 16 - 21:00 – Sweden vs. Iceland (Duhail)
EGYPTIANS READY TO
MAKE THEIR MARK
Egyptian players, some of them are already playing in
Qatar for various clubs, will be keen to repeat their 2001
performance when they took the fourth place in France.
QT Spotlight on Qatar 2015
Friday, January 15, 2015
31
Spain on a mission to defend the title
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
JUAN Garcia willl lead
the challenge of defending champions Spain in
the World Men’s Handball
Championship.
Two years ago, Spain won
the title against Denmark in
one of the most lop-sided finals. In Qatar, their aim and
ambition will certainly be
to add to two world crowns.
But their job will not be
easy. Their main challengers will be Slovenia and
Belarus. Their place in the
knock-out is guaranteed but
the onwaard journey from
there would be interesting to
watch.
Here is an overview about
the Group A teams:
Spain
Slovenia
Qatar
Belarus
Brazil
Chile
CHILE
Chile are probably the
weakest national team
in this group; this will be
their third World Handball
Championship. They didn’t
have any previous noticeable results, in Sweden
(2011) they finished 22nd
and in Spain (2013) they
were 23rd. They got one of
the younger selections in
this World Handball Championship and their boss is
Fernando Capurro. Most of
the players are playing in
Chile national league, Germany Bundesliga and Spain
Liga Asobal. Marco Oneto
is player with most appearances and most goals for national team - he scored 195
goals from 87 games.
Championship, their best
rank was in Spain (2013)
when they took 4th place.
Their head coach is Boris
Denic who has been very
successful with Slovenian
handball youth team. Luka
Zvizej is the player with most
games and best scorer for
current national team. Luka
played 191 games and scored
637 goals. Stars of this team
are probably Montpellier
duo Vid Kavticnik and Dragan Gajic.
BRAZIL
Little stronger then Chile
are another South American national team Brazil.
Brazil have figured in the
World Handball Championships 12 times and their best
rank in 13th place in Spain
(2013). Jordi Ribera is their
coach and most players are
playing in Brazil or Spain.
Probably their best player is
Felipe Ribeiro who is playing in France LNH Division
Montpellier. Ribeiro is also
the best scorer for national
team; he scored 530 goals
from 150 games. Goalkeeper
Santos Maik is player with
most matches for the national team - 185.
BELARUS
Similar to Chile, this
will be their third time they
are appearing at the World
Handball
Championship.
Their best rank was in Iceland (1995) when they manage to finish on 9th place.
Former Soviet Union Summer Olympics gold medalist
Yuri Shevtsov is their boss.
Most of the Belarus players
are playing in the national
Players of Spain celebrate the title win in the World Men’s Handball Championship in Barcelona in 2013.
handball league. Their biggest star is Barcelona player
Siarhei Rutenka while SKA
Minsk player Ivan Brouka is
a player with the most appearances (138) and most
goals (510) scored for national team.
QATAR
For Qatar national team,
this will be their fifth appearances in the World Handball
Championships. Their best
result was in Portugal (2003)
when they finished 16th.
Their boss is Spanish hand-
ball coach Valero Rivera
Lopez, who coached Spain
to the gold medal in the 2013
World Handball Championship. The honour of the
most appearances for Qatar goes to Eldar Memisevic
(84) and Wajdi Sinen is best
Croatia have easy rivals in Group B
scorer with 221 goals from
60 games. Probably the biggest name of this team is their
goalkeeper Danijel Saric.
SLOVENIA
For Slovenia this will be
their 7th World Handball
SPAIN
Spain are probably the
strongest team in this group;
they are also current World
Handball Champions. This
will be their 18 times they are
playing in the World Handball Championship; they
have two gold medals Tunisia (2005) and Spain (2013)
and one bronze from Sweden (2011). After Rivera left,
Manolo Cadenas took over
as the coach and he managed
to get bronze medal from the
European Championship in
Denmark (2014). Veteran
Juan Garcia has most appearances for Spain national
team (206); he is also best
scorer with 822 goals. The
best players of this team are
Raul Entrerrios from Barcelona and Arpad Sterbik from
Vardar.
OTHER ROUND 1 MATCHES:
January 16 - 17:00 – Spain vs. Belarus (Attiyah)
January 16 - 17:00 – Slovenia vs. Chile (Duhail)
ROLL OF HONOUR
Year
1938
1954
1958
1961
1964
1967
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
Host
Germany
Sweden
East Germany
West Germany
Czechoslovakia
Sweden
France
East Germany
Denmark
Germany
Switzerland
Czechoslovakia
Sweden
Iceland
Japan
Egypt
France
Portugal
Tunisia
Germany
Croatia
Sweden
Spain
Gold
Germany
Sweden
Sweden
Romania
Romania
Czechoslovakia
Romania
Romania
West Germany
Soviet Union
Yugoslavia
Sweden
Russia
France
Russia
Sweden
France
Croatia
Spain
Germany
France
France
Spain
Silver
Austria
West Germany
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Sweden
Denmark
East Germany
East Germany
Soviet Union
Yugoslavia
Hungary
Soviet Union
France
Croatia
Sweden
Russia
Sweden
Germany
Croatia
Poland
Croatia
Denmark
Denmark
Bronze
Sweden
Czechoslovakia
Germany
Sweden
Czechoslovakia
Romania
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
East Germany
Poland
East Germany
Romania
Sweden
Sweden
France
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
France
France
Denmark
Poland
Spain
Croatia
MEDALS COUNT
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Nation
Sweden
France
Romania
Russia
Germany
Spain
Croatia
Czech Republic
Yugoslavia
Denmark
East Germany
Poland
Austria
Hungary
Serbia
Gold
4
4
4
3
3
2
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Silver
3
1
0
3
2
0
3
2
1
3
2
1
1
1
0
Bronze
4
3
2
0
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
2
0
0
2
Total
11
8
6
6
6
3
5
5
6
4
4
3
1
1
2
HOST COUNTRIES
Croatian player Ivano Balic obliges fans with autographs on his team’s arrival in Doha.
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
CROATIA will be up against
tough challenge from Macedonia and Tunisia. Another
team to watch are Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Tunisia and
Macedonia are likely to battle for the second place in the
group behind Croatia. Bosnia
and Herzegovina may also
resist the trio a great deal and
it won’t be a surprise if they
can beat one of them. Not
much hope for Austria and
Iran for getting into the second round.
Group B teams:
Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Macedonia
Austria
Tunisia
Iran
For Croatia this will be their 11 World Handball Championship and similar to Spain in
Group A, they are coming with high hopes.
Croatia were the champions in Portugal
(2003). Besides, they have secured three
silver medals (Iceland 1995; Tunisia 2005;
Croatia 2009) and one bronze medal - from
the last World Handball Championship in
Spain (2013).
IRAN
This will be Iran’s first
time to attend the World
Handball
Championship.
They managed to qualify
from the Asian Championship after getting the 3rd
place in 2014. Iran don’t have
any big players. Their boss is
Slovenian coach Borut Macek
and he is also their biggest
name. Among the players,
Mohammadreza Rajabi has
the most appearances and he
has scored most goals for national team – 662 goals from
145 appearances.
TUNISIA
For Tunisia, this will be
their 12 World Handball
Championships. First time
they appeared in the worlds
in 1967. Their best finish is
4th place in 2005 when WC
was played in Tunisia. On
the bench they got one more
Balkan coach, Bosnian Sead
Hasanefendic is coaching Tunisia national team. Stars of
this team are Wissem Hmam
(Saint Raphale, France),
Issam Tej (Montpellier,
France) and Wael Jallouz
(Barcelona, Spain). Issam Tej
is best scorer and player with
most appearances in this
team; he played 293 times for
Tunisia and scored 770 goals.
AUSTRIA
This will be 5th time Austria are playing in the World
Handball
Championship.
Their best results was in the
first edition (1938) of World
Handball
Championship
when they were second. Also
this is the only national team
in this group that doesn’t
have ex-Yugoslavian coach.
Patrekur Johannesson from
Iceland is team coach for
Austria. Viktor Szilagyi is
player with most appearances (187) and most goals (853)
in this national team; he is
also the star of this team.
MACEDONIA
This will be their 4th
appearances in the World
Handball
Championship
with their best results being 11th place in Croatia
(2009). For coach they got
ex Croatian handballer Ivica
Obrvan and biggest star of
this team is Kiril Lazarov
(Barcelona, Spain). Filip
Mirkulovski has the most appearances for national team
116 and Kiril Lazarov is their
best scorer with 901 goals.
BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA
For Bosnia and Herzegovina, this is their debut
World Handball Championship. Their coach is
Mirsad Terzic and biggest
stars are Muhamed Toromanovic and Mirsad Terzic. Terzic has also most
appearances (114) and
most goals scored (388) for
national team.
Times hosted
7
4
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Host
Germany
Sweden
France
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Croatia
Egypt
Iceland
Japan
Portugal
Qatar
Spain
Switzerland
Tunisia
CROATIA
For Croatia this will be
their 11 World Handball
Championship and similar
to Spain in Group A, they
are coming with high hopes.
Croatia were the champions
in Portugal (2003). Besides,
they have secured three silver
medals (Iceland 1995; Tunisia 2005; Croatia 2009) and
one bronze medal - from the
last World Handball Championship in Spain (2013). Their
head coach Slavko Goluza
was member of Croatian
squad in Iceland (Silver),
Portugal (Gold) and Tunisia
Year(s)
1938, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1982, 2007, 2019
1954, 1967, 1993, 2011
1970, 2001, 2017
1964, 1990
1978, 2019
2009
1999
1995
1997
2003
2015
2013
1986
2005
(Silver). Igor Vori has the
most appearances (223) and
most goals scored (562) for
this national team. Croatia
are full of stars and their
biggest player is Domagoj
Duvnjak (THC Kiel, Germany) who was part of all-star
team in last World Handball
Championship and European Handball Championship
and IHF World Player of the
year in 2013 .
ROUND 1 SCHEDULE:
January 16 - 15:00 – Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Iran
(Losail)
January 16 - 17:00 – Macedonia vs. Tunisia (Losail)
January 16 - 19:00 – Croatia vs. Austria (Duhail)
32
Friday, January 16, 2015
QT Spotlight
OFF-THE-COURT TRAINING
SCORE SHEET
❯ 3654 is the number of
goals Spain has scored in
all past World
Championships, more than
even Sweden who has taken
part in four more tournaments and holds the
appearance record with
147 matches
❯ 3 goals were scored in the
1938 bronze medal game
between Sweden and
Denmark. The Swedes won
2:1 in a duel with the
least goals ever scored in
a whole match (3) and in
a halftime (1 by Sweden
at the second half ), and
with the least goals
scored by a single team
in a whole match (1), and
in a halftime (goal-shy
Danes didn’t score in the
second half)
❯ 55 is the number of goals
Iceland scored against
Australia in a group stage
game, more than any other
team in a single game
❯ 42 goals separated eventual winners Germany and losing side Luxemburg in their
between match in 1958
which ended 46:4, the most
comfortable victory by any
team ever
❯ 3 times the Korean KyungShin Yoon topped the scorers list (1993, 1995, 1997).
Participants in a training session as part of the preparations for Qatar 2015 Men’s Handball World Championships.
Qatar handball family to
trust knowledge power
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
AFTER two long years the
Men’s Handball World
Championship is back as Qatar 2015, and off-the-court
the IHF and the handball
family in Qatar are at hard
work with numerous educational workshops, meetings
and training taking place.
A large part of this comes
under the banner of the ‘IHF
World Championship Education Week’.
Formally opened by
IHF President Dr Hassan
Moustafa on Thursday,
the week includes numerous technical and practical
lectures and practical workshops as diverse
as ‘Variable Defense Play’ through ‘Coaching
Philosophy’, ‘Trends in Goalkeeping’ to ‘3:2:1
Trap-Defense’ and ‘Trends and Tendencies
in International Handball’. The lectures and
workshops will be a mix of classroom-based
sessions and practical demonstrations on
the playing court.
presentations, workshops,
discussions and educational
events broken down into
three themes: ‘Commission
for Coaching and Methods
(CCM)’, ‘Global Coaching
Clinic (GCC) Africa’ and the
‘IHF Coaches Symposium’.
Until January 18, delegates will be able to attend
lectures and practical workshops as diverse as ‘Variable Defense Play’ through
‘Coaching
Philosophy’,
‘Trends in Goalkeeping’ to
‘3:2:1 Trap-Defense’ and
‘Trends and Tendencies in
International Handball’.
The lectures and workshops will be a mix of classroom-based sessions and
practical
demonstrations
on the playing court. These
will be delivered by the CCM
lecturers of the IHF including
Frantisek Taborsky (CZE),
Klaus Feldmann (GER), Mats
Olsson (SWE), Paul Landuré
(FRA), Juan Anton (ESP),
Nabeel Taha (BRN) and Zoltan Marczinka (HUN).
In addition to these, lecturer and coach Manolo
Montaya (ESP) will also be
delivering lectures as will
Poland national team coach,
Michael Biegler (GER) who
will deliver a lecture entitled ‘Handball Cross - A New
Training Method’.
Once the lectures and
workshops are over each
day, all the delegates will
go and see the world’s best
male handball players battle it out live as they play
for Qatar 2015 glory in the
evening games.
Road to WC Trophy
and Rio Olympics
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
IN the next two and a half
weeks no less than 88
matches will be played before number one to number
24 at the 24th Men’s World
Championships are determined.
The 24 teams will start
in four groups. The four
best teams from each group
qualify for the 1/8-finals.
In these 1/8-finals the
tournament goes into the
knock out phase. Here
the group winners will
meet number four placed
teams and number two
placed teams will face
number three. Number
five and six in each group
will move on to the President’s Cup for ranking positions 17 to 24.
The knockout stage will
continue with the quarter-
and semifinals with the
bronze-medal match and
the final to be contested on
February 1.
With the Olympics
in Rio, Brazil coming up
next year the determination of the rankings from
5 to 8 will be of great importance and in contrast to
the World Championships
in Spain in 2013 there will
be a placement round for
these positions.
The new world champions will be directly qualified for Rio while the teams
that finish in positions two
through seven will qualify
for the Olympic Qualification Tournaments to be
played next year. In addition to the World Champions, the winners of the
continental qualifications
from Europe, Asia, Africa
and Pan America will also
book a ticket to Rio.
Ali Zein confident Egypt team will surprise rivals
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
MOHAMED Ali Zein celebrated only his 24th birthday in late December. But
he already has 104 international caps to his tally and
has lived the experience of
a Men’s Handball World
Championship in Sweden in
2013. The Left Back will be a
key member of the new-look
Egyptian team who are preparing for their 13th World
Championship appearance
and an African record 12th
successive time.
Ali Zein was introduced
to the secrets of handball
at age seven at Al-Ahly club
in Egypt. It didn’t take him
long to make his breakthrough. His talent was soon
discovered and in 2006 he
was picked up by the national selectors to join the
age group national teams.
With him being a regu-
lar starter and one of the
most formidable players,
the Egyptian Junior team
reached fourth place twice
at World Junior Championships, on home soil in 2009
and in 2011 in Thesssaloniki, Greece.
“In the meantime, I was
honoured to receive an invitation to play for the men’s
team at the 2011 World
Championship but an injury forced me to stay on the
sidelines, therefore I made
my debut two years later
in 2013 in Spain,” said Ali
Zein, who is currently playing for Al-Jazira club in Abu
Dhabi, after a two year spell
in Étoile du Sahel in Tunisia.
“Unfortunately
Egypt
didn’t finish higher than
16th.”
Ali Zein is eagerly looking forward to taking part
in his second senior global
competition, but he will
always have on his mind
Mohamed Ali Zein in action during a match.
the frenetic days of 1999,
when Egypt hosted the 16th
Men’s Handball World
Championship.
“I was only nine and was
watching the games on TV,
but I remember that the
whole nation was feeling
the World Championship
vibration. The atmosphere
was fantastic. Everybody
was talking about the competition and our team was
really strong, manned with
extremely talented players who made us all very
proud.’’
“Unfortunately we were
unlucky to face the mighty
Russian team in the quarter-finals, but the same
squad went on to reach the
semi-finals in 2001, the first
non-European team to advance that far. We, the new
generation, learnt a lot from
them, and we are inspired
from their exploits. Our ambition is to match their heroics one day.”
Ali Zein is realistic
about Egypt’s chances for
Qatar 2015, although he
hasn’t lost his faith in his
team’s capacity.
“The old guard has retired or is not being selected
anymore, thus the Egyptian
national team mostly consists of youngsters who definitely need time to develop
their skills.’’
‘‘Furthermore, we have
been drawn in an extremely tough group along with
France, Sweden, Czech Republic and arch rivals Algeria. To add to our misfortune, Iceland was selected
to replace the United Arab
Emirates after the latter
withdrew their participation
from the Championship, an
addition which makes our
mission even tougher.’’
“Nevertheless, we believe that we have the roster
and the quality to survive
the challenge. Our main advantage is that nobody is expecting from us to be competitive and they are really
not aware of our true potential. I believe we can catch
them by surprise and with
God’s help we may qualify
to the next round.”