On the final day of the 2017 World Games, a huge crowd found their way to the central court located in the Marsowe fields. And the spectators got exactly what they came for – finals full of thrill, turnovers and the addictive beach handball atmosphere.
WOMEN
Norway vs Spain 1:2 (10:13, 13:11, 2:6)
World champions Spain and European champions Norway opened the medal matches with a tight and thrilling show. At the beginning Spain missed a lot of spin shots but still managed to take the lead. Norway, however, stole the lead turning the game to 4:3.
After the fifth minute, Spain scored three spin shots in a row, which led to 4:9 and afterwards the game was under Spanish command. By the eighth minute of the first set, Norway found themselves in a difficult situation, but Spain were not able to secure their win which gave them hope and the ability to score three two-point goals while keeping a good defence, which changed the score to 10:12. That’s when Spain requested a time-out and scored the very last point of the first period, ending it 10:13.
Two minutes of the second period passed by without Norway scoring, while Spain took the lead 0:4. Until the ending of the second set, Norway could not break through the Spanish wall. A penalty in the 7th minute was their last chance – and they made use of it. Surprised Spain just watched Norway getting closer and the set ended at 11:11. It was Norway who won the second period through a golden goal and the match had to be decided with a shoot-out, where Norway failed horribly and let Spain get away so that the world champions won by 4 points in the end, 2:6.
Argentina vs Brazil 0:2 (10:22, 12:15)
The final’s result was not that surprising in the end – the defending champions from Brazil kept their lead right from the start and did not give Argentina many chances. Brazil, the only national team who do almost only in-flights, controlled the first period and won by 12 points, 10:22.
In the second period, Argentina improved their defence and the score remained level until 12:12. Brazil scored again and Argentina missed their big chance to even again. The last one-point shot of Brazil sealed the deal and with a 15:12 win Brazil added the second gold medal in a row to their World Games collection.
Juliana Olivera from Brazil, who attended her first World Games, commented: “I cannot explain how I feel right now, it’s amazing. We got to play against a country from the same continent which I’ve found really great.”
Carolina Rossi from Argentina could not hide her disappointment: “This final only demonstrated that Brazil really is the best in the world. We got into finals and earned a Silver medal, which is a great result for us. Hopefully this was one of the many finals that’ll follow for us.”
MEN
Hungary vs Qatar 1:2 (17:20, 23:20, 6:7)
The bronze medal match between Qatar and Hungary kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. The first period showed dominance the of Qatar and after Hungary missed a couple of important shots, the Asian side secured a 17:20 win in the first period.
During the second period, Hungary managed to keep up with the Qataris. By the second minute, they led 6:4 and soon 8:5 and did not give Qatar a chance to turn the period around. Just as in the first period, it was a three-goal win, but this time with the advantage for Hungary – 23:20.
Despite the fact that the Hungarians were the first to score 4 points in the shoot-out while Qatari failed twice, Qatar picked gathered their strength and won the shoot-out 6:7, winning the bronze medal and improving their 2013 World Games 4th rank.
The captain of the Qatari team, Mohsin Yafai, admitted it was hard to get over their yesterday loss with Croatia: “But it was my responsibility to bring the team back to the game. We started it very hard, but at the second period we slowed down cause we are really tired. We don’t play at much tournaments as players from Europe.” Yafai also talked about their expectations, that did not meet the reality. “Our result is okay, we have the medal. But we wanted to be in the finals.”
Brazil vs Croatia 2:1 (22:28, 24:18, 9:8)
As the Croatians said yesterday, the final between Brazil and Croatia is the best final spectators can get. And it turned out to be 100% true. Croatia won the first throw-off and turned it into the first score. Right from the start the match promised to be exciting, however, at 4:6, Brazil missed the chance to strike back. Before the fourth minute, Croatia scored another two shots in a row, pulled away to 4:10 and kept the upper hand, winning the period by 22:28.
In the second set, Croatia scored before the first ten seconds passed. Brazil tried to keep up with Croatia but remained two points behind. Finally, at the third minute, they managed to level the game at 6:6 and the teams took turns in scoring. At 10:10, Brazil got back in their game and pulled away. With the crowd going crazy, Brazil won the second set by 6 points 24:18 and brought the game to the shoot-out.
Brazil claimed the title of World Games champions again after a tight shoot-out, which they won just by one point, 9:8.
Gil Pires from Brazil was overflowing with emotions while realising how close their win was: “We were sleeping in the first period. Sometimes we need to receive a really scary message to wake up and that’s exactly what we received after we lost the first period. It’s always hard to win a game in a shootout and we faced so many problems during the competition– the rain, the sun, the whole tournament was really hard. But to win the World Games again is like a crown to our work. It’s even more special because it happened thanks to the crowdfunding and the people of Brazil. We own them, cause this would never happen without them.”