Asian club champions Mudhar were the early birds at the final day of the IHF Super Globe in Doha, Qatar. By beating Sydney clearly they secured the seventh place.

 

Placement match 7/8: Mudhar (KSA) – Sydney University (AUS) 34:21 (17:11)

Thanks to the high shooting efficiency of their top stars Wael Jallouz but especially Amine Bannour and the saves of their goalkeeper Mohammed Abdulhussain Mudhar dominated the match. Sydney tried all tactical matters to stop the opponent’s top attackers, but could not avoid their goals. On the other hand, the Australians were quite good in attack. But after 15 minutes the individual means were not enough to keep the result close – Mudhar got away to an intermediate seven goal margin at 12:5. And in minute 37 Bannour hit the net for the first double-figured result at 22:12.

But like in all previous matches, Sydney fought until the end, scored some impressive goals but could not endanger the Saudis despite some good saves of goalkeeper Pascal Winkler. But the Aussies can return home heads held high after promoting the Australian handball by four strong and only one chanceless performance (against THW Kiel) at the IHF Super Globe.

For Mudhar the balance will be different: After losing their decisive group match against Al-Sadd (QAT) highly unlucky, which meant missing the semifinal, they also lost their opener in the placement round against Sao Bernardo, but finished victorious. Wael Jallouz and Amine Bannour imprinted the competition with their together more than 60 goals.

 

Statements after the match:

Farouk Dehili, coach Mudhar: After the defeat against Metodista on Friday 31 August we were highly ambitious to win this match. And in the end I have to thank my players for a good tournament despite a short preparation period.

Ahmad Alabdulali, player Mudhar: We are satisfied with this final success, but not with the outcome of this tournament. We deserved to have a much better final position.

Phlipp Enders, coach Sydney: Five matches in six days are physically and mentally demanding for our team, and I am really disappointed with our today’s performance. We had high ambitions after we had shown a strong performance against Mudhar in our first match on Monday. But my players were tired and exhausted and they did not do what we had planned. It was our objective to finish better than the two Australian teams which had competed at the IHF Super Globe in 2010 and 2011. I don’t know if we have reached those goals due to our final result. But still I am proud of my team and thank the organizers that we could compete on this level in Doha.

Sebatien Traverso, player Sydney: We are disappointed with the final result, as we did not fulfill our game plan. But as the coach I am proud of our team and what we have shown in Doha, but the last game did not reflect our level. I hope that we have the chance to return to the IHF Super Globe next year again.