Dramatic finish sees Egypt seal back-to-back finals berth at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship

20 Sep. 2024

Dramatic finish sees Egypt seal back-to-back finals berth at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship

Hosts Egypt made it to the final of the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship for the second consecutive edition, after a dramatic 2:0 win over France, which needed a golden goal in the decider, as the African side will now face the United States of America in the last act of the competition.

SEMI-FINAL
France vs Egypt 0:2 (4:6; 6:7)

Egypt were eyeing their second consecutive finals berth at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, but they had deliver a win against France, the surprise package of the semi-finals, which had previously eliminated the unbeaten Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Therefore, the African side knew that the challenge facing them was going to be tough, especially as they were shaky at times during the competition, when they won three of the sets so far by a single point, with two of them coming with a two-points win.

Sure enough, that was also the case against France, with the European side buoyed by their fantastic result against Portugal, as they were aiming to produce another upset and join another debutant in the final, the United States of America, which had previously secured a 2:1 win over Brazil.

But in the first set, there was no room for surprise, as Egypt had once again the top scorer of the competition, Magdy Talaat Abdo Abbas, in fine form, scoring four points, on their way to a 6:4 win in the first part of the match, edging even closer to the coveted finals berth.

Yet France never backed down, as they did not stop in the match against Portugal, and took early control in the second set, 3:1, until their captain and influential player, Mathieu De Cillia, was disqualfiied after conceding his second suspension.

It was clear that the European side’s display was going to be hampered, but it was time for another of their star players, Fatih Cuhadar, to shine, doing everything on the court, from scoring to stopping a penalty from Talaat Abdo Abbas, as France were still holding a narrow 4:3 lead, with four minutes to go in the second set.

Going on a 3:0 unanswered run made it seem that Egypt had it in the bag, with Talaat Abdo Abbas scoring once again at free will, but the finish of the match was absolutely dramatic, as France needed a moment of craziness from Fatih Cuhadar to tie the score.

With only a few seconds on the clock, Cuhadar converted a spinshot from over 30 metres away from goal, as the ball entered the net just before the final buzzer, pushing the set into the golden-goal, as the score was tied, 6:6.

It took a single mistake from France, with a pass intercepted close to the French goal by Ahmed Salah Mohamed Abdelkafi, that decided the match. Salah converted the open-goal shot and made sure that Egypt are through, as the golden goal saw them take another set by the slightest of margins, 7:6.

Egypt will be featuring on Sunday in the final against the United States of America, while France are going into the bronze medal match, where they will face reigning champions Brazil.