Six prelim matches of the Men's Handball tournament ended at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, with world champion Germany overpowered by Iceland, European No. 1 Denmark losing to the Republic of Korea and 2007 world silver medalist Poland outclassed by Spain.
Brazil vs. Croatia: 14-33
By taking a comfortable lead throughout the first match of group A, Croatia soared to a breathtaking 33-14 win over Pan-American champion Brazil. It was a one-sided match, with Croatia taking a nine-goal lead in the first half and making ten more goals in the second half. The die was already cast.
Mirza Dzomba, as the top scorer, contributed seven goals out of seven attempts for Croatia, and goalie Venio Losert made a series of excellent saves with his efficiency rising to a 64 percent high.
Egypt vs. Russia: 27-28
Playing a draw with Denmark, Egypt met Russia in the morning group B match and almost evened the game. A last-gasp goal from Russia, though, secured the team's second win in the tournament, mirroring the decisive last-second free throw by Hungary that helped them tie Brazil in the Women's Handball prelims on August 11.
Ahmed El Ahmar became the "score machine" for the Egyptian team and made ten goals out of fifteen tries. Meanwhile Alexey Kostygov was the top scorer with eight goals for the Russian team, seven of which were jump shots from nine meters, as Egypt played aggressively both in defense and attack.
China vs. France: 19-33
The European powerhouse France brushed aside the host team, who are making their maiden Handball debut in the Olympics. Assembling one fast break after another, the 12-goal lead by France in the first half was good indication of their comfortable win later.
France's Nikola Karabatic, Luc Abalo and Michael Guigou were all top scorers for the team with five goals apiece, while Hao Kexin from China also scored five, though out of fourteen tries.
Spain vs. Poland: 30-29
A duel between the 2005 world champion (Spain) and the 2007 world silver medal winner (Poland) resulted in the Spain's slender victory over the European dynamo. The game was really tight with Poland taking a one-goal lead in the first half and a draw of 29-29 in the 56th minutes. A last minute goal by top scorer Albert Rocas (ESP), who formed the wing duo with Juan Garcia, helped the team out of a potential defeat.
The match was played at breakneck speed, with both teams committed to attack. In the latter half Poland seemed to take control of the game, but after a wise time-out by Spanish coach Juan Carlos Pastor, the Polish momentum was somewhat stopped and the situation changed.
Rocas (ESP) scored a game-high seven goals, while Poland's right-back Krzysztof Lijewski and right-wing Mariusz Jurasik scored four goals each.
The Republic of Korea vs. Denmark: 31-30
Denmark, after a tie with Egypt, got edged out today by the ROK; the medal favorite doesn't look in good shape now. Even though the ROK Men aren't as strong as their female counterparts, they had a good performance with Jung Su-young scoring nine goals out of twelve attempts to be the top scorer.
The ROK team's jump shots and clever moves differ from the Danes' way of using strength, size and power.
When a draw was made in the 59th minute and there were five seconds to go, a time-out by the ROK team led to Jung wrapping the game up with a last goal, sealing the victory over Denmark.
Iceland vs. Germany: 33-29
The Handball battlefield is unpredictable, and there was hard proof of this today when 2007 world champion Germany was defeated by underdog Iceland.
The German team got a double hit when right-back Christian Zeitz was sent out of the match early and Pascal Hens retreated half way through with a knee injury. Though Michael Kraus had thirteen goals out of sixteen attempts to be the top scorer and Holger Bitter succeeded on eight out of thirteen tries, the match became one-sided -- for the Iceland side -- with Snorri Steinn Gudjonsson and Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson contributing goals in turns and pushing the score to a 17-14 lead in first half.
The latter half saw Kraus industriously scoring to make up for the gradually enlarged gap, but morale really got low when Hens went out. The die was cast even though Kraus got a goal in the last minute.
Brazil vs. Croatia: 14-33
By taking a comfortable lead throughout the first match of group A, Croatia soared to a breathtaking 33-14 win over Pan-American champion Brazil. It was a one-sided match, with Croatia taking a nine-goal lead in the first half and making ten more goals in the second half. The die was already cast.
Mirza Dzomba, as the top scorer, contributed seven goals out of seven attempts for Croatia, and goalie Venio Losert made a series of excellent saves with his efficiency rising to a 64 percent high.
Egypt vs. Russia: 27-28
Playing a draw with Denmark, Egypt met Russia in the morning group B match and almost evened the game. A last-gasp goal from Russia, though, secured the team's second win in the tournament, mirroring the decisive last-second free throw by Hungary that helped them tie Brazil in the Women's Handball prelims on August 11.
Ahmed El Ahmar became the "score machine" for the Egyptian team and made ten goals out of fifteen tries. Meanwhile Alexey Kostygov was the top scorer with eight goals for the Russian team, seven of which were jump shots from nine meters, as Egypt played aggressively both in defense and attack.
China vs. France: 19-33
The European powerhouse France brushed aside the host team, who are making their maiden Handball debut in the Olympics. Assembling one fast break after another, the 12-goal lead by France in the first half was good indication of their comfortable win later.
France's Nikola Karabatic, Luc Abalo and Michael Guigou were all top scorers for the team with five goals apiece, while Hao Kexin from China also scored five, though out of fourteen tries.
Spain vs. Poland: 30-29
A duel between the 2005 world champion (Spain) and the 2007 world silver medal winner (Poland) resulted in the Spain's slender victory over the European dynamo. The game was really tight with Poland taking a one-goal lead in the first half and a draw of 29-29 in the 56th minutes. A last minute goal by top scorer Albert Rocas (ESP), who formed the wing duo with Juan Garcia, helped the team out of a potential defeat.
The match was played at breakneck speed, with both teams committed to attack. In the latter half Poland seemed to take control of the game, but after a wise time-out by Spanish coach Juan Carlos Pastor, the Polish momentum was somewhat stopped and the situation changed.
Rocas (ESP) scored a game-high seven goals, while Poland's right-back Krzysztof Lijewski and right-wing Mariusz Jurasik scored four goals each.
The Republic of Korea vs. Denmark: 31-30
Denmark, after a tie with Egypt, got edged out today by the ROK; the medal favorite doesn't look in good shape now. Even though the ROK Men aren't as strong as their female counterparts, they had a good performance with Jung Su-young scoring nine goals out of twelve attempts to be the top scorer.
The ROK team's jump shots and clever moves differ from the Danes' way of using strength, size and power.
When a draw was made in the 59th minute and there were five seconds to go, a time-out by the ROK team led to Jung wrapping the game up with a last goal, sealing the victory over Denmark.
Iceland vs. Germany: 33-29
The Handball battlefield is unpredictable, and there was hard proof of this today when 2007 world champion Germany was defeated by underdog Iceland.
The German team got a double hit when right-back Christian Zeitz was sent out of the match early and Pascal Hens retreated half way through with a knee injury. Though Michael Kraus had thirteen goals out of sixteen attempts to be the top scorer and Holger Bitter succeeded on eight out of thirteen tries, the match became one-sided -- for the Iceland side -- with Snorri Steinn Gudjonsson and Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson contributing goals in turns and pushing the score to a 17-14 lead in first half.
The latter half saw Kraus industriously scoring to make up for the gradually enlarged gap, but morale really got low when Hens went out. The die was cast even though Kraus got a goal in the last minute.
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