The fourth matchday of the 2018 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in Kazan, Russia saw a day packed full of action, upset and joy in the Main Round and Consolation Round.

After the matches finished, the quarter-finals were confirmed as Iran vs Sweden, Spain vs Brazil, Croatia vs Denmark and Hungary vs Russia.

2018 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship

Matchday 4: Main Round and Consolation Round – Day 2

- Oman beat Russia in a shootout, Qatar end Sweden's winning run - but both winning teams fail to make the quarter-finals
- Brazil lose to Denmark in a shootout, both teams go through to last eight
- Title holders Croatia make it six wins in a row
- Argentina and USA celebrate victories in consolation round

Main Round: Group 1
The four teams progressing through to the quarter-finals were already known at the start of play but that did not stop some exciting games in the final three matches of group 1. 2017 EHF EURO champions Spain and 2016 IHF World Champions Croatia played out a hard-fought match to decide the winners of the group and it was the Croatians who eventually prevailed, winning the shootout 9:8.

The two teams who did not qualify through played each other as Uruguay took a 2:0 win against Vietnam and in one of the best set performances at Kazan so far, Hungary scored 32 points in the second period to salvage their game against Iran, winning the shootout 5:4.

Main Round: Group 1

Results
CRO vs ESP 2:1 (18:17) (19:26) [9:8 SO]
URU vs VIE 2:0 (18:14) (16:15)
IRI vs HUN 1:2 (14:12) (13:32) [4:5 SO] 

Main Round: Group 2
Group 2 proved to be one for the mathematicians in the end as Brazil, Denmark, Qatar and Oman all ended on four points each, but it was Brazil and Denmark who took their places in the quarter-finals.

The day saw Oman face Russia on the central court, Qatar play Sweden on court three and Denmark take on Brazil in-between the two and for all of those interested spectators there were some tough decisions to make with all three games proving crucial.

While Qatar left no doubt about their intentions – inflicting Sweden’s first defeat at Kazan, Brazil and Denmark went to a shootout after the Danes regained their composure in the second, high-scoring period to win 29:26 after losing the first one clearly, by 10 points.

And as Denmark won 7:6, thanks to a winning single-point shot from Martin Andersen – who scored 17 points in the match, their fate was still not clear as the hosts and Oman were in the middle of their own shootout. 

The Qatar players crowded into the corner of the central court to watch the action unfold – the Omanis had beaten them in a shootout already in Kazan – as a Russian win would have meant Qatar qualify at the expense of the Danes thanks to a mini-league between Brazil, Denmark and Qatar who would have all been on four points, with Qatar taking the quarter-final spot on sets won.

However, Oman again won their shootout (11:10), and so found themselves equal on four points with Brazil, Denmark and Qatar so taking into consideration the head-to-head record of all four teams, Denmark took the spot of Qatar thanks to four points in total in the direct duels, like Brazil, while both Asian sides exited the competition.

Denmark had their fate officially confirmed while watching the Danish ladies, sparking wild and loud celebrations in the spectator seats and double Danish delight.

Main Round: Group 2

Results
QAT vs SWE 2:0 (26:12) (18:16)
DEN vs BRA 2:1 (10:20) (29:26) [7:6 SO] 
OMA vs RUS 2:1 (12:24) (16:15) [11:10 SO]

Consolation Round
In what could be called the ‘breakfast round’, Argentina and New Zealand took to the court at 9am this morning to start their quest for ninth place in the consolation round.

The first period went down to the death as Argentina, 18:17 up with 15 seconds left, took a time out to steady the nerves. Their first shot was saved by Thomas Roxburgh in the New Zealand goal, but the ball went straight back to the South American side and they sealed the first set as Gonzalo Ezequiel Vieyra smashed home.

New Zealand came out fighting in the second set, leading 18:15 with 90 seconds left, thanks to more saving prowess from Roxburgh in goal, but Argentina scored and when goalkeeper Matias Gustavo Ortelli repelled the next Oceanic attack, he grabbed the ball and promptly threw it full-court into an unguarded New Zealand net to take the match victory.

The USA did their best to throw away the first set against the Aussies in the second game of the men’s consolation round as they were up 26:24 with one second left in the first set, but ended up winning by the golden goal after Lucas Turecek managed to score one of the most improbable goals of Kazan 2018, horizontally firing the ball into the American next through a wall of three defenders and Taylor Lapin in the USA goal.

The self-styled ‘Handball Ninja’ Ebiye Jeremy Udo-Udoma held his head in his hands after his USA side had appeared to lose the chance to take a set victory but after they won the restarted ball worse was to come as Nicholas Gallaugher gathered the ball in front of a passive USA team, but Lapin denied them twice in the subsequent attack.

And with some good fortune Udo-Udoma sunk home the golden goal – a feat he would repeat again at the end of the match too as the sides were deadlocked in the last few minutes, despite Australia leading by six (10:4) in the fourth minute.

Udo-Udoma scored a last second penalty to equalise the set at 22:22 and this time they won the ball at the start of the golden goal period, before the Ninja chopped the Australians down with his second killer goal.

As they left the court Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’ echoed around the arena from the speakers and the USA themselves would have felt massive relief after nearly handing the game away to their opponents twice.

Consolation Round

Results
ARG vs NZL 2:0 (20:17) (19:18)
AUS vs USA 0:2 (26:27) (22:23)