Brazil and USA set up fantastic semi-final with big wins in the quarters

After a slow start of the match, reigning champions Brazil dominated the second set against India, taking a 2:0 win, and progressing to the semi-finals of the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship for the second consecutive time, extending their winning streak to 11 matches in the competition.

In the other arena of the Dr Hassan Moustafa Hall in 6 of October, Egypt, the USA delivered a fantastic performance against Chile, especially in defence, where they conceded only two points, to clinch their maiden semi-finals berth at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship.

QUARTER-FINALS
Brazil vs India 2:0 (4:2; 15:7)

Reigning champions Brazil were clearly favoured against India, which had lost all their matches so far at the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, but the pressure was on for the South American powerhouse, as they could afford no mistake in the quarter-final.

Lose and concede any chance to secure the place in the semi-finals, therefore Brazil, which had a 10-match winning streak entering this quarter-final, needed to bring their A-game, yet India took Brazil the high road, delivering a fantastic defensive match.

Once again, Brazil relied heavily on their defence, which conceded the lowest number of points in the preliminary round, therefore they pressured India to shoot from difficult situations, helping goalkeeper Marcelo Amaral rack up save after save.

With only three players on the scoresheet after the first set, with Guilherme Lourenco and Amaral scoring a single point, Brazil still controlled much of the first part of the match, taking a 4:1 lead after six minutes. Eventually, they took the set, 4:2, only after Amaral made a key save against India’s captain, Javed Choudhari, with six seconds left, setting up Brazil for the win.

Entering the fray in the second half, Jordean Rodrigues galvanised Brazil’s attack, and scored five of the first six points for the South American side, which took a 6:1 lead after only four minutes, beating the number of points scored in the first set after only two minutes and 56 seconds.

India risked it all, attacking with all four players, but that meant they were exposed to open-goal shots, which Brazil duly took advantage of, creating an unassailable lead, with the Asian side failing to really get an answer from their players.

With Rodrigues scoring 11 points – all of them in the second half – Brazil eventually secured a big win in the second set, 15:7, as they are now for the second time in a row in the semi-finals of the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship. On the other hand, India will head to the Placement Matches, not being able to finish higher than the fifth place.

United States of America vs Chile (4:1; 8:3)

After a disappointing start of the competition, when they failed to score for 19 minutes and 16 seconds against Brazil, putting up only two points on the board, the United States of America came back to the drawing board and recalibrated themselves, in their debut at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship.

They went on to win two matches, finishing second in their preliminary round group, which meant they faced Chile, the third-placed side in the other group, with a big chance for a semi-finals berth, provided the USA secured their third win in a row.

In the first set, the American side looked sharp, composed and had a fantastic defence, stopping their opponents time and time again, with Chile scoring a single point, after four minutes, when the USA were already up 3:0, thanks to Chayse Wolf and Jeffrey Townsend.

Wolf scored another point after seven minutes into the first set, while USA’s defence was absolutely superb, forcing Chile to miss five times, as the American side went on to secure a 4:1 win in the first set, displaying a fantastic performance.

But that was only half of the job done for USA, which needed to win another set, to secure the match, and, just like the match between Brazil and India, the second set was more entertaining, as the South American side tried to mount a comeback.

Once again, Townsend and Wolf delivered some excellent shots, combining for six points between them, with the two players driving USA to another win, 8:3, as Chile were once again left disappointed by their efficiency, stuck at only 20% at the end of the match.

One point where USA improved was exactly this efficiency – they only had a 33.3% shooting efficiency at the end of the preliminary round – which rose at 59% in this match, and 66.6% for spinshots, crucial in determining the winner in the match.

USA will face once again Brazil in the semi-finals, after losing the first match of the competition, as Chile are now heading to the Placement Matches.