In their debut at the 2023 IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, Australia sealed a hard-fought 25:22 win over the Republic of Moldova, clinching only their third win in history in the competition, which enables them to dream about a semi-finals berth.

Group B

• Republic of Moldova vs Australia 22:25 (9:13)

Returning to the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship for the first time since 2015, Australia aimed high against the Republic of Moldova, which had already lost their first game against Cyprus on Tuesday. Therefore, the maths were simple: win against the Republic of Moldova and set up a final for first place in the group against Cyprus, lose and see the chances for the semi-finals vanish.

Eager to take the court and deliver their third win in history at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship, Australia jumped to an early lead, capitalising on some excellent saves from goalkeeper Bjørn Svineng McCourt, who stopped the first three shots, helping his team create a three-goal lead, 3:0.

The better efficiency and the better chemistry in the squad helped Australia dominate the first half, as well as Moldova running on tired legs after going 60 minutes head-to-head against Cyprus on Tuesday. In fact, the European side only managed to provide a meagre 37.5% efficiency to the table as their mistakes were quite costly, especially at the end of the first half.

With the Republic of Moldova close to cutting the gap to only two goals, left back Vasili Vasilatii missed his eighth shot of the half in the dying seconds, enabling Australia’s top scorer, Hamish Liam Langenberg, to score his fifth goal of the half and take his side to a 13:9 lead.

Australia managed the gap, but a nine-minute run without a goal enabled the Republic of Moldova to bounce back, using a 4:0 run to tie the game (17:17), as backs Vlad Martalog and Maxim Sipulin started scoring. Yet that comeback was stopped short by the emergence of turnovers in the European side’s game.

In total, the Republic of Moldova turned the ball over 13 times and kept making easy mistakes, which enabled Australia to build their own 3:0 unanswered run that saw Taip Ramadani’s side create another three-goal gap (20:17) with nine minutes to go in the game.

Martalog also missed a crucial penalty with seven minutes to go, as Australia jumped to the occasion and converted a pair of fast breaks to seal a 25:22 win, also thanks to the amazing Bjørn Svineng McCourt, who finished the match with a masterpiece of 20 saves for a 48.7% saving efficiency.

With the 25:22 win, Australia have now ensured that they will finish higher than the 12th place they took seven years ago and will fight for the first place in the group on Thursday, when they face Cyprus.

On the other hand, the Republic of Moldova lost two games in two days and will head for the 9/12 Placement Matches, trying to avoid the last place in the competition when they re-enter the fray on Saturday.

Player of the Match: Bjørn Svineng McCourt (Australia)