Spain are the first medallist at the 1st IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship, after securing their fourth win in five matches in the competition, dominating Qatar in the bronze-medal match, 35:23.

BRONZE-MEDAL MATCH
Qatar vs Spain 23:35 (10:18)

Two days ago, Spain and Qatar were left reeling after conceding painful losses in the semi-finals, however they needed to bounce back and still fight for the prize at hand, the bronze medal and a place on the podium at the inaugural IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship.

And there was one clear favourite in this match, with the two sides having already met in the preliminary round, where Spain delivered a good overall performance to snatch a 41:24 win.

Spain paid the price for a slow start against Egypt, which translated into the African side managing to claw back in the match and this is exactly what the European side prevented this time around, when they opened a 6:3 lead after only six minutes into the match, with Qatar failing to weather the storm.

As the Asian side’s goalkeepers saved a single shot between them in the first half, Spain could deliver a good performance in attack and they were leading by eight goals, two less than in the preliminary round match, but with a big prospect to secure the medal, especially because Qatar’s main two attacking weapons, Ramy Mahrous and Ahmed Elsayed, who were the top two scorers in the competition before the final day.

Mahrous then went out and carried Qatar in the second half, but it was too little, too late for the Asian side, which had previously finished third in the AHF Asian Men’s Under-17 Championship last month. But his antics were not enough, as Spain continued to push, taking advantage of Qatar’s goalkeepers combining for 11% saving efficiency until the 50th minute.

All Spain’s outfield players scored at least one goal, led by Eric Anselmo Guinau, who had six goals, with the gap hovering around the 10-goal mark throughout the second half, until Spain eventually clinched the 35:23 win, another double-digit one against Qatar.

On the other side, Mahrous scored nine goals, finishing most likely as the second best scorer, with 46 goals, one less than USA’s Jorge Gomez de Santiago, while Elsayed is the third best scorer of the competition, with 40 goals.

The European side, where coach Raul Entrerrios made his debut on the national team bench, will leave the competition with the bronze medal, despite showing huge promise in the preliminary round, while Qatar take the fourth place, having some good building blocks for the future.

Player of the Match: Eric Anselmo Guinau (Spain)