The VELUX EHF Champions League champions Vive Tauron Kielce defeat Al-Sadd by a decisive 11 goals to finish third at their debut IHF Super Globe – but coach Talant Dujshebaev says there is still some work to do as the 2016/17 season begins:
“I think it will be very hard for us because we have a lot of players who played in the Olympic Games – I think it was 12 players – and of course every year after the Olympic Games, from my experience, it is the biggest problem for us, the trainer,” he said following the first official matches for Kielce in 2016/17. “Of course we knew that would be happening, and I think we have to prepare and this year it will be very, very hard for us, especially for the first two months – I think we have to have a lot of patience.”
Duhail Sports Hall, Thursday 8 September
Bronze-medal match: Al-Sadd (QAT) vs Vive Tauron Kielce (POL) 25:36 (12:20)
Kielce had little trouble defeating hosts Al-Sadd by a clear margin, though it took 20 minutes for them to begin to create the difference. After that however, the VELUX EHF Champions League champions streaked ahead to lead by eight goals at half-time, and finish with an 11-goal advantage that secured third place at their debut Super Globe.
The match opened evenly with the score progressing one-for-one through the first quarter as Al-Sadd held a narrow advantage at 6:5 after 10 minutes of play, after which Kielce claimed a one-goal lead at 9:8 midway through the half. Immediately afterward Kielce goalkeeper Filip Ivic (39% save rate) made a save that kept the score there – and they would not add another to their tally until Abdulla Al Karbi scored a penalty in the 19th (11:9).
With the score at 13:9 in the 20th Ivic made two consecutive saves against Tunisian national team star Amine Bannour, while at the other end Al-Sadd tried marking out Kielce back Mariusz Jurkiewicz. But it had little effect, and from that point Kielce continued to pull in front to lead 16:10 at the 25-minute mark and hold an eight-goal difference at half-time.
When the second period began the game was already decided in Kielce’s favour, though Al-Sadd tried different combinations in an effort to catch their opponents. With 15 minutes left the Polish champions led 30:18 and it was clear Al-Sadd would not be able to come back from such a deficit. Kielce coach Talant Dujshebaev continued to push his players to finish with the biggest win possible, and they succeeded with a difference of more than 10 at the final whistle.