Dubai: Sandefjord TIF Handball from Norway continued their perfect record with a third straight win at the Third Dubai International U16 Handball Championship at Al Manara Sports Hall on Wednesday.
Sandefjord, who beat local sides Al Ahli and Al Shabab on the first two days of competition, rode on six goals from Victor Norberg as they hauled themselves back from a second half dip to win 24-20 against Romania’s ISK Szekelyudvarhely.
The Norwegians, sturdy in defence and quick on the counter, were leading comfortably 13-5 at the end of the first half. They allowed the Romanians to fight back to within two goals at 22-20, but Sandefjord scored the final two goals through Norberg to maintain their hot streak.
“The match was so psychological. These are young boys and after their first half lead they thought they could easily win in the second half,” Sandefjord coach Steinar Inselseth told Gulf News.
“But then we saw that was not the case as the Romanian team fought for every goal and nearly equalised. Luckily, we managed to calm them down and get them to concentrate, stay strong in defence and take their chances in attack.
“There are a lot of lessons to learn for these youngsters and I am sure they will be wiser going into Thursday’s match. We are here for the first time and we want to win this tournament.”
Also registering their third win were two-time defending champions HEI/VRI of Denmark and Marseille Vac & Sport from France.
The Danes beat Al Wasl 27-14, while the French team earned a tight 28-22 win over last year’s bronze medallists Al Ahli.
“We enjoyed a strong first half and that rescued us in the end,” said Marseille coach Arnaud Chasset. “It was close in the second half, but ultimately our quality came through and we are glad to advance in this competition. The idea is to take it one match at a time and hopefully our hard work will see us in the final.”
In other matches, Al Shabab recovered from a slow start to beat Al Wasl 22-19 and Al Ahli stayed on track with a 24-16 win over Al Nasr.
