Pak men handball team’s semis chances end

KARACHI: Pakistan men’s handball team’s hopes to qualify for the semi-finals ended on Wednesday when it tasted its second successive defeat as they went 24-47 down against defending champions Algeria in their Group B game of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The Green-shirts, who had lost their Group A opener against hosts Azerbaijan 43-36 on Tuesday, were routed by the strong north African side who had faced a shocking 13-26 loss at the hands of Saudi Arabia in their opener the other day.

At half time, Pakistan were trailing 8-20.

In the second half, Pakistan put up a better show but the rivals were too strong for them.

Despite the defeat Pakistan Handball Federation’s (PHF) president Mohammad Shafiq was satisfied with his team’s performance. “We have sent a young team which played its first game hours after reaching Baku on Tuesday. Today it had to play a very tough game against the African champions,” Shafiq told ‘The News’.

“But still I am happy the players showed their guts. Our team needs international exposure,” Shafiq added.

Algeria’s coach Rabah Gherbi was happy with the achievement. “The game against the Saudis was very bad. We had just arrived, didn’t have time to train. We lacked rhythm and power. Today, it was our real entrance into the tournament,” Gherbi said.

“We have a young team and we started well. Now, we need to think about the next game,” he added.

Pakistan face Saudi Arabia on Thursday (today).

Algeria will take on Azerbaijan in the last round of the group which will decide the two semi-finalists.

Meanwhile, in a Group B outing, Turkey recorded their second straight win to virtually qualify for the semi-finals when they overpowered Iraq 35-33.

The men’s volleyball competitions begin on Thursday (today) with Pakistan facing hosts Azerbaijan in their Group A opener.

Turkey, Palestine and Turkmenistan are the other teams in Pakistan’s group. In the other Group A outing on Thursday, Turkmenistan meet Turkey.

The Group B consists of Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

The leading two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

After Baku competitions, Pakistan team will move to Kyrgyzstan on May 23 to feature in the World Championship qualifiers.  The team will return home on May 29.

Pakistan team: Abdul Zaheer, Aimal Khan, Asif Nadeem, Mohammad Aqeel, Imran Sultan, Mubashir Raza, Mohammad Idrees, Kashif Naved, Munir Khan, Murad Jehan, Naseer Ahmed, Nasir Ali, Usman Faryad, Sheraz

Officials: Bakhsh Javed (manager), Hamid Movahidi (head coach), Hassan Mazhar (assistant coach), Hani Farokhi Fard (analyst).