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Three teams eye first 2021 Super Globe win

08 Oct. 2021

Three teams eye first 2021 Super Globe win

With only two days remaining in the 2021 IHF Men’s Super Globe, it is time for the teams in the placement round 5-10 to take to the court and make the most of their experience in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

There are two games scheduled for Friday, 8 October, with San Francisco CalHeat, Al Duhail and Sydney Uni Handball Club still chasing their first win in this edition.

CalHeat and Sydney Uni will play their last games in the competition, trying to avoid the last place in the standings, as both are at the bottom of their groups, with zero points.

8 October, 16:00 AST
Al Duhail (QAT) vs San Francisco CalHeat (USA)

The first-ever participation in the IHF Men’s Super Globe was always going to be a steep learning curve for San Francisco CalHeat, but the American side exceeded expectations in their first two games, conceding nine-goal and six-goal losses against Saudi sides Al Wehda and Al-Noor.

Their third and last opponent in the competition will also be an Asian side, Al Duhail, who are still aiming to win the group.

The Qatari side stood little chance against finalists SC Magdeburg in the quarter-finals, conceding a 23:35 loss, but still have plenty of experience in their roster to challenge for the first place in Group A.

This means winning the game against CalHeat, where they are considered favourites as they have played already on Thursday, while Al Duhail enjoyed a rest day.

San Francisco rely heavily on Spanish back Eloy Rubio, who is orchestrating the attacks, having scored 10 goals and dishing four assists in two games, having a direct hand in 31.8% of his side’s goals.

If Al Duhail manage to stop him, the winners of the Asian Men’s Club League Handball Championship could seal their first win in Jeddah and set up a crunch game for the first place in Group A of the placement round 5-10 against Al Noor on Saturday.

8 October, 18:15 AST
Al Wehda (KSA) vs Sydney Uni Handball Club (AUS)

Conceding a painful 27:38 loss against Aalborg Håndbold in the quarter-finals was surely not the way Al Wehda envisioned their exit from the fight for the trophy at the IHF Men’s Super Globe 2021, yet the truth is that the Danish powerhouse were simply too strong for the Saudi hosts.

Al Wehda suffered a huge blow in the quarter-finals qualification game against San Francisco CalHeat, when left back Frankis Carol Marzo suffered an Achilles tendon injury. Swiftly, the experience brought by the top scorer of the IHF Men’s World Championship 2021 was gone, as was their depth in attack.

Relying on Cuban back Angel Hernandez became mandatory, as the right back is the second top scorer of the competition, with 14 goals, five goals less than Magdeburg’s Michael Damgaard, despite playing one game less than the Dane.

Hernandez will be surely used once again against Sydney Uni, the team who conceded the second largest number of goals in the competition, an average of 35 per game in two matches, against SC Magdeburg and Zamalek.

The Australian side, who have been relying on former players playing abroad or Australians who are based in Europe, stood little chance against Zamalek on Thursday, being handed a painful 19:38 loss.

Al Wehda will surely look to inflict some more pain, as another loss relegating Sydney Uni to the last place in Group B and virtually sealing the last place in the final standings for the fifth time in a row.

This will be Sydney’s last game in the competition, while Al Wehda are due to play against Zamalek on Saturday.