Dubai: UAE handball coach Julian Gomez is hoping for “serious change” after his team qualified for the World Men’s Handball Championships for the first time on Monday.
The Emiratis booked their place to the next year’s finals in Qatar after a best semi-final finish at the ongoing Asian Championships in Bahrain this week. They qualified second in their group with three wins and two losses but went on to lose Tuesday’s semi-final against hosts Bahrain 27-20. Meanwhile, Qatar beat Iran 23-22 in the other semi-final.
Asia only gets three berths to the World Championships but with Qatar qualifying as hosts, the continent now has four slots in the finals. This renders Thursday’s usually decisive Asian Championship third place play-off between the UAE and Iran academic.
Gomez said the UAE’s semi-final defeat to Bahrain was to be expected due to the team’s poor preparation and inexperience, but he hopes not to be making the same excuses at next year’s World Championships.
“It’s a huge achievement for the UAE to have qualified to the World Championships for the first time in their history,” he said. “But it’s also very important that this changes the mentality. I hope this prompts very serious change.
“Our preparation coming into the Asian Championships was very bad. Our loss to Bahrain was expected because of our low level of experience and preparation. We didn’t reach the level necessary to win.
“Before we go to the World Championships, we need to start a serious plan. We can be competitive at the World Championships and elevate the sport in the UAE if we take serious steps to make progress now. One of the problems in UAE Handball is the meetings which prevent quick processes. But I urge the federation to take fast steps.”
The UAE’s previous best finish in the Asian Championships was sixth spot, which they achieved in 1991, 1995 and 2004. They are among 11 teams to have secured their places at Qatar 2015, with reigning champions Spain joining the Asian contingent along with 2014 European Championship qualifiers Croatia, Denmark and France, plus Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia, who progressed from the 2014 African Championship.
The remaining qualifying places in the 24-team competition will consist of nine further European qualifiers, three from the 2014 Pan American Championship and one from April’s Oceania Championship.
The 2015 World Championship will be the 24th edition of the sport’s blue riband event, which is organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF). The finals will be held for the first time in Qatar from January 17 to February 1. The Qatari bid was selected over those of Norway, Poland and France after a vote by the IHF Council in January 2011 in Malmo, Sweden.
