Armed with more experience, Al Noor Saudi Club registered their first-ever win at the IHF Men’s Super Globe, 30:24 against San Francisco CalHeat in Group A of the placement round 5-10.
 
The Saudi side are on the brink of avoiding finishing in the bottom two places of the final standings, with the American side still searching for their first win in the competition as they face Qatari side Al Duhail tomorrow, in their last game of this edition.
 
PLACEMENT ROUND 5-10
San Francisco CalHeat (USA) vs Al Noor Saudi Club (KSA) 24:30 (10:14)
 
An American team will have to wait for their first-ever IHF Men’s Super Globe win after San Francisco CalHeat stood little to no chance to secure a positive result against Saudi hosts Al Noor.
 
For eight minutes, it looked like CalHeat were onto something, as Spanish back Eloy Rubio scored once and provided two other assists for his teammates to keep Al Noor in check.
 
However, the superior experience of the Saudi side was there on display especially in their defence, who stopped CalHeat and provided easy goals for left wing Abdullah Al Abbas, who duly took advantage and led a 4:0 run via two converted fast breaks.
 
It was Al Abbas and Bahraini centre back Hussain Al Sayyad who carried Al Noor in the first half, combining for 11 of their 14 goals to take the Saudi side to a 14:10 lead at the break, which looked precarious, but it was, in fact, unassailable.
 
CalHeat might have had more depth in their squad, but with the Saudi side in finer form, it was just a straightforward procession until the end of the game to help the hosts clinch their first-ever win at the IHF Men’s Super Globe.
 
With three goals from Rubio, they cut the gap to only three goals, 15:18, in the 39th minute, only for Al Noor to provide their own 5:1 run, spurred again by Al Abbas, to secure the win by creating a seven-goal gap, 23:16, with 12 minutes to go.
 
While Panic, the top scorer for Al Noor in yesterday’s match against Pinheiros and fellow Serbian back Lazar Petrovic scored only once between them, the Saudi side, there was nothing CalHeat could do to mount a serious comeback, despite goalkeeper Lukas Kroeger’s 11 saves.
 
Eventually, Al Noor secured the 30:24 win, their first-ever in the competition, setting up the game against Qatari side Al Duhail as the crucial one for first place in the placement round 5-10 Group A.
 
Meanwhile, CalHeat are still looking for the first win in the IHF Men’s Super Globe, with their last game in the competition coming on Friday, against Al Duhail.