The last two quarter-finals of the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship provided two entertaining encounters and a huge shock, with France clinching a 2:1 win over previously undefeated Portugal, ending the reigning World and European champions’ hopes for the title.

In the other quarter-final, the runners-up of the 2022  IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, Egypt, secured a comeback win, 2:1, against Japan, sealing their tickets to the semi-finals.

QUARTER-FINALS
Egypt vs Japan 2:1 (6:8; 9:7; 5:4)

On paper, Egypt were favourites to secure the win in the quarter-final against Japan, keeping alive their dream of returning to the final of the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship. But Japan were no pushovers and they proved it in the first set, when they looked to be the sharper team.

The Asian side, debutants in the competition, had the best attack in the competition, but it was all about the balance in attack and defence, and Japan hit the sweet spot in the first set, when they took control early and never relinquished it until the end.

With top scorer Shinnosuke Morooka dominating – as he scored 12 of Japan’s 15 points in the first two sets – the Asian side was impressive, scoring at free will, while Egypt turned the ball too many times to really make a challenge for the win. 

Therefore, the runners-up of the 2022 IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, found themselves in a precarious position, having conceded a 6:8 loss in the first set, as there was no room for mistake in the second part.

Luckily for Egypt, the joint top scorer of the competition in the preliminary round, Magdy Talaat Abdo Abbas, showed up in the second set, dominating with his usual excellent performance, reaching 12 points after the first 20 minutes of the match. There was no stopping Talaat Abdo Abbas, who ensured that Egypt lead throughout the whole second set, eventually clinching it, 9:7, in another close call for the African side.

There was no shortage of drama in the deciding set, where Japan took the lead, fell behind, tied the score with 35 seconds to go, 4:4, applying the pressure needed to secure the win and clinch their maiden semi-finals berth in the world wheelchair handball flagship competition.

But once again, Talaat Abdo Abbas scored with 10 seconds to go, improving his overall tally in the match to 15 points and bringing Egypt another close win, 5:4, in the decider, as the African side are now once again in the semi-finals, where they will face the big surprise of the day, France.

Portugal vs France 1:2 (9:8; 2:11; 8:11 a.pen.)

There was no room for mistake in the quarter-finals, yet France went really close to upset the reigning World and European champions, making life difficult in the first set, despite the debutants failing to secure a set in the preliminary round, being the only team with no points at the end of the first part of the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship.

France delivered their best performance as of yet in the competition, staying close to Portugal, but eventually, Portugal’s experience was decisive, as well as another excellent performance of the joint top scorer of the competition, Ricardo Queirós, who scored over 50% of his team’s points in the first set.

In fact, it was Queirós who broke the deadlock in the first set, which ended undecided, 8:8, after a hard-fought match, as the Portugal star scored the golden goal after 24 seconds in the extra-time, to gift his team the win in the first set and get them closer to the coveted semi-finals berth.

But the warning shot delivered by France fell on deaf ears for Portugal, who were constantly behind in the second set, where France took an 5:2 lead after four minutes, as Fatih Cuhadar and Mathieu De Cillia combined for all of France’s 15 points scored in the match by that point.

Portugal called a team time-out, trying to weather the storm, but it looked like the match was heading to the decider, a fantastic achievement for France, which were properly motivated to deliver the biggest shock of the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship.

Eventually, Portugal failed to convert six of the seven shots they had, and the match went into the decider, as France dominated the second set with a flawless performance, 11:2, coming full of confidence into the last part of the match.

There, the two teams traded blows, but could not be separated after the five minutes, 4:4, everything going into the shoot-out, the most dramatic way the teams could be separated.

And there, France, which had not won a set before this match, were absolutely perfect, converting all of their five shots, including two two-pointers from Cuhadar and de Cillia, while Portugal had two misses, enough for the match to go into France’s direction.

A fantastic comeback, sprinkled with some magic from Cuhadar (13 points) and de Cillia (12 points) produced the biggest shock in the history of the competition, as France, which did not win a match, or even a set in the preliminary round, bounced back after conceding the first set against Portugal and qualified to the semi-finals, leaving the reigning World and European champions emptyhanded.