Group A

 

In Group A of the men’s competition (Croatia, Egypt, Hungary, Poland), Croatia have proven they rightly hold the World Champions title. Hungary also won both their matches, while hosts Poland were off to a disappointing start of their campaign.

 

Hungary vs Poland 2:0 (26:24, 17:16)

 

The first match of the hosts against Hungary was a thrilling one. Poland, supported by the vivid audience, was stepping on Hungarian’s toes persistently, but did not stop them from winning the first period 26:24. Hungary lost the lead at the beginning of the second period, but got back on track and won by one point

 

“It was a really tough game, the home team has always the advantage of the spectators who gives them extra energy,” commented Nagy András from Hungary. “The first half we have been always in the lead but it wasn’t as easy as it looked like. In the second half, they were six points ahead of us but we fought back and our team spirit helped us to win. We are not only a group of the beach handball representatives, we are also a group of great friends and I believe that’s important.”

 

Croatia vs Egypt 2:0 (25:10, 34:13)

 

In this match, Croatians were expected to be the stronger side and they did not leave any doubt about that. The reigning world champions outclassed Egypt in both periods, first 25:10, then 34:13.

 

Josip Sandrk, player of Croatia, admitted it was an easy match for them: “Actually we expected it to be a little bit harder. But the Egyptian team is young and quite new.”

 

Poland vs Croatia 0:2 (16:28, 16:22)

 

In this match, the Croatians cemented their position as favourites of the tournament and with a score of 16:28 for the first period and 16:22 for the second one, they left the Polish audience and the players themselves extremely disappointed about their second loss.

 

“We are really disappointed. We will make some improvements for the following days and hopefully we will make it to quarterfinals,” shared Polish player Maciej Wludarczak.

 

Matej Semren from the Croatian side thought this victory was little bit harder than their first one: “It’s always a good thing to win, but this time we played against the hosts, on their stadium and in front of their people.”

 

Egypt vs Hungary 0:2 (14:19, 12:23)

 

Although the first scoring shot belonged to Egypt, Hungary managed to take over right after and to keep the lead for the rest of the match. They delivered their second convincing victory of the day with the result 14:19 in the first period, 12:23 in the second one.

 

Nagy András was thrilled about the result, but was already focusing on the following match against one of the biggest rivals, Croatia: “This was a must win match, that’s always the hardest. Now we are really looking forward to playing with Croatia tomorrow. We will win.”

 

Group B

 

In Group B (Australia, Brazil, Uruguay and Qatar), defending champions Brazil put on a strong performance. The team of Qatar introduced themselves as tough opponents.

 

Qatar vs Australia 2:0 (17:15, 17:16)

 

The last World Games that took place in 2013 in Cali, Colombia Qatar missed the medal and finished in 4th place. This year they are back as one of the strongest teams. Their first match of the 2017 World Games against the Australians was tight coming down to 2 and 1 points respectively.

 

“Australia was a tough rival for us. The game was good, because we won. It wasn’t our best match though – we can play much better. We don’t fear anyone. We want to deliver a better performance next time,” Qatar’s Mutasem Mohamed commented.

 

Brazil vs Uruguay 2:0 (25:16, 23:10)

 

Brazil, the defending champions from Cali 2013 left no doubt that they are in Poland to claim the top of the podium. Uruguay got a chance midway through the first half to turn the game in their favour through a goal of Rodrigo Bernal Algare (11:12) but only managed to score twice in the later stages of the period so that they lost 25:16.

 

In the second period, the Brazilians confirmed their strength with an even clearer result (23:10).

 

“It was not easy, Uruguay makes a lot of contact which is not our style. We had to focus not to lose our minds over that. It was our first match, so we were nervous. But we did a good job and we are definitely satisfied,” claims Brazilian player Gil Pires. “We know what we have to improve to win the next match. And the other one, and then the other one.”

 

Australia vs Brazil 0:2 (18:23, 16:23)

 

For the second time today, Australia proved themselves as strong opponents, while Brazil confirmed their power with the second win of the day. The match started with the Aussies taking over and scoring the first two goals leading to a score of 0:4. After the 5th minute, when Brazil’s Gil Pires scored to 9:8, the South Americans did not let go of the lead, won the first period (18:23) and did not give the Australians any other chance until the end of the second period (16:23).

 

However, Austalian player Nicholas Gallaugher was satisfied with the result: “It was great, it was close, it’s always a tough playing against brazil, the best team in the world over the past few years. I think in the first half we just hit more shots, our defence was strong all game, our offence we had a few too many turnovers which was too costly against such a good team.”

 

Uruguay vs Qatar 0:2 (7:30, 18:22)

 

In the second match for both teams, Qatar proved they can play much better than before and delivered an easier victory against Uruguay. After the first period (7:30) where Uruguay lost with by 23 points, the South American players managed to keep up with their rivals in the second period (18:22).

 

Mohamed Hassan, a Qatari specialist, admits it was a much easier victory than they expected: “Since the morning, we developed and our confidence increased and will be increasing day after day.” He also says he is looking forward to measure their strengths with Brazil: “Match with Brazil will be an early World Championships finale.”