n their maiden appearance at the IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, Portugal clinched a 2:0 win over India, which helped the European side tie Egypt as the two sides with an immaculate record in Group B.

GROUP B
India vs Portugal 0:2 (5:8; 6:8)

Portugal’s biggest challenge, as outlined by coach Danilo Ferreira before the start of the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship, was to adapt from the Six-a-Side wheelchair handball tactics to the Four-a-Side, played at Egypt 2024.

Training for this particular situation, Portugal were aiming to make the most out of their debut in the world wheelchair handball flagship competition, and they did just that against India, totally outplaying the Asian side, with some fantastic shots in the first set.

Still, India proved they are no pushovers and pushed Portugal to the limit, as they went down early, after scoring the first point, yet a two-point converted shot from Koteshwar Ramvath saw the gap diminished to only one point, 6:5, with three minutes on the clock.

Portugal had a clear tactic of scoring as much as possible from long shots and that worked out perfectly in the first set, with Joao Jeronimo and Ricardo Queiros combining for seven points in the first nine minutes, incidentally Portugal’s all points in the match by that point.

Some key saves – five throughout the first set – from goalkeeper Pedro Marques, enabled Portugal to secure an 8:5 win and get closer to the win, but the second set was even closer.

India took the early lead in the second set and kept it until the seventh-minute mark, when Queiros converted a two-point shot and enabled Portugal to take the first lead in the second set, 6:5, piling on the pressure on India, which needed to secure the win in the second set to push the match into the decider.

As India failed to score in the last minutes of the set, Portugal kept their cool and delivered an 8:6 win in the second set, clinching the win and confirming their credentials before the second day, when the preliminary round is over at the 3rd IHF Wheelchair Handball World Championship.