Industria Kielce suffered a great scare in the opening match of the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe, taking a last-gasp win against Bahraini side Al-Najma, 27:26, with a goal from left back Szymon Sicko making the difference.

GROUP D
Industria Kielce (POL) vs Al-Najma Club (BRN) 27:26 (17:13)

With doubts over the fitness of goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, right back Alex Dujshebaev and left back Szymon Sicko, Industria Kielce were heading into the 2023 IHF Men’s Super Globe with doubts over their form and questions marks about their favourite status.

But with all players taking the court in the start of the debut match of the competition, against Al-Najma Club, Kielce were suddenly back into the contender tier, yet the three players still had to prove their fitness, in a match which Dusjhebaev called a difficult one.

Indeed, backed by some excellent saves from Al-Najma goalkeeper Ali Saleh, who had a 50% saving efficiency after 12 minutes, the Bahraini side ensured a competitive match, with Kielce taking their first lead after 12 minutes, after two consecutive goals from right wing Pawel Paczkowski.

With their superior experience and with four goals each from Paczkowski and line player Artsem Karalek, Kielce were able to create a four-goal lead and start to dominate the match, as their defence started getting better and better, as Al-Najma’s players started to get more and more tired.

However, the Bahraini club did not back down, as Kielce started to rotate their players, as a 3:0 run from Al-Najma, with plenty of fast break throughs from their pacy backs, cut the gap to only one goal, 20:19, with Kielce avoiding a tie in three consecutive attacks from their opponents.

They did not prevent the game to be deadlocked, though, when Al-Najma’s persistence tied the score, 22:22, with 13 minutes to go, but Kielce continued to look in control, with the depth and experience being on their side. 

But it was not for Al-Najma’s lack of trying. The Bahraini side continued to shock Kielce time and time again, with some extraordinary pacy speed, with the advantage of a strong core of players featuring together both for their club and their country.

With only six minutes left, the score was still tied, 25:25, as the pace fell and Kielce were really starting to feel the pressure. But when the hummel Player of the Match, Al-Najma’s goalkeeper, Ali Saleh, turned up the heat, this is really when things started to unravel, as the Bahraini side took the lead, 26:25, turning the game on its head, with only two minutes left.

Kielce turned up the tempo, shut down Al-Najma’s attack and finally did exactly what was needed to clinch a 27:26 win, with left back Szymon Sicko scoring the last goal with only four seconds left on the clock, delivering a huge win for Kielce, which, otherwise, would have had serious issues to progress to the semi-finals.

The two teams will now face the San Francisco CalHeat in the next games, but Kielce boosted their chances to progress to the semi-finals, as they aim to better their previous results in the IHF Men’s Super Globe, the third place in 2016 and 2022.

hummel Player of the Match: Ali Saleh (Al-Najma Club)