India clinches IHF Handball title

TSE April 12, 2010 1

India clinches IHF Handball title

DHAKA: Pakistan lost the final of International Handball Federation Challenge Trophy to arch-rivals India in tense encounter by 39-33.

It was a nail-biting match right from start of the game as both teams were striving for dominance. In first eight minutes of the match, the scoreline was 8-8. At halftime the score was in favour of India by 22-21.

Pakistani players lost the momentum in the start of the second half and allowed Indian players to take substantial lead of five points in just seven minutes. Lack of stamina, poor game plan in the second half and many crucial mistakes cost Pakistan the final. Indian players played well and didn’t allow the opposition to take control of the match. Indian goal keeper Amit showed some excellent skills in the later part of the final as he stopped number of attacks of Pakistan.

Shomsher Singh scored 11 goals for the winning team and he get solid support from Deepak and Jogesh, both netted eight goals each. Mohammad Zubair and Mohammad Mobeen scored eight goals each for Pakistan. Indian team were more experienced than Pakistan side in the competition as they had four national players Deepak, Amit, Shomsher and Shusant who participated in the last South Asian Games.

Earlier Bangladesh beat Yemen in evenly contested match for third position by 31-28.

International Handball Federation official Yuov Laurans appreciated the efforts of Bangladesh Handball Federation for hosting the event successfully.