There
was a busy day in the Sizihwan
Bay beach handball arena
with the final matches of the preliminary round and all quarter finals in the
men’s and women’s competitions.
WOMEN – GROUP A
The
final two matches of the group were played first from 9.00 am. The Chinese
Taipei hosts met Brazil,
the eventual Group winners, but could not compete with the skilful South
Americans. Brazil
ran out 2-0 winners.
FYRO
Macedonia defeated Ukraine
2-1 after a shoot-out and snatched second spot in the group.
Final
group rankings; Brazil (6),
FYRO Macedonia (4), Ukraine
(2), Chinese Taipei (0)
WOMEN – GROUP B
Euro
champions, Italy, took the
first place in Group B with a win against Japan 2-0. Rivals Croatia also won their morning game against Thailand 2-0
and finish runners up in the Group.
Final
group rankings; Italy (6), Croatia (4), Thailand
(2), Japan
(0)
MEN - GROUP A
Turkey took top spot in Group A
thanks to a win against the reigning world champions, Croatia, in the
final match of the round.
The
Turks won the match in a low scoring final shoot –out, two points to three and
took maximum points.
Pakistan beat their Asian rivals, Thailand, 2-1
and 8-2 in the final shoot-out to keep alive their hopes of a strong showing in
this tournament after their Asian Beach Games title in 2008.
Final
group standings; Turkey (6),
Croatia (4), Pakistan (2), Thailand (0)
MEN – GROUP B
First
place in Group B went to Brazil
following their defeat of Oman
2-0 in their final match of the preliminary round.
A
clean sweep takes the South Americans into the quarter finals and a good
position to make the semi-finals.
A
huge home crowd arrived in the beach arena for Chinese Taipei’s match against Hungary,
causing some problems for volunteers, who were forced to turn people away at
the door, such was the interest in this final crucial match.
They
were to be disappointed, despite taking the second set, Chinese Taipei went
down 10-6 in the final shoot-out.
Final
group standings; Brazil (6),
Hungary (4), Chinese Taipei
(2), Oman
(0)