Qatar’s Abdulaziz Helali (second from right) attempts a shot at goal during the 2015 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship match against Croatia in Yekaterinburg, Russia, yesterday.

Agencies/Yekaterinburg, Russia

Croatia went into the match knowing it was their last chance of keeping any chance of progressing to the Eighth-Finals alive, while Qatar could potentially be unseated by the Balkan team depending on the results of the final group phase games.
There was a lot at stake and the game between the two very different, but fairly well-matched, teams reflected that. The match eventually ended 25-24 in favour of Croatia, who earned their first two points of the tournament.
From the start it was close, but Croatia held a slight edge, leading more often than Qatar throughout the first half.
After 15 minutes the Balkan team were in front by two, but Qatar kept coming back. After 23 minutes, when the score was equal (10-10), Qatar brought goalkeeper Bilal Lepenica on in place of Ahmed Abdelrhem for his first real court time of the championship.
Croatia welcomed him with a fast break goal from David Mandic just a minute later, and retained the one-goal advantage created there into the half-time break.
The second half was just as up and down as the first. Croatia’s Petar Medic put his side in front with a strong ground shot in the 36th minute before right wing Ivan Martinovic took them two goals ahead (18-16, 37th minute). But then it was Qatar’s turn – they levelled the score before right back Abdulaziz Helali created a one-goal advantage with a penalty goal in the 41st minute (18-19).
The one-for-one game continued as the clock ticked on. In the 25th minute Qatar left wing Mohamed Abdelraouf missed a penalty shot that kept the score at 24-24. Left wing Marin Jelinic then scored the crucial goal that gave Croatia the lead and Spikic made a save to retain the advantage in the 29th minute (25-24).
Abdelrhem came back onto the court and saved a Jelinic penalty shot with a minute left on the clock, but Jelinic had already won the match with his previous goal. Croatia took their first two points and now look to their final game against Algeria, another must-win match that could put them through to the Eighth-Finals yet.
In the other Group C matches, Switzerland made it through to the Eighth-Finals with their third win, over Algeria, while Russia and Denmark split the points following a 29-29 draw.
Algeria needed two points from the match to keep their hopes of advancing alive but were instead handed a 21-30 loss by Switzerland.
The African team started with man-on-man defence, making the game at their end of the court very messy as Switzerland struggled to find a way through.
Switzerland were also keeping Algeria off the board, though their trouble was the tall, solid 6-0 wall they faced. Right back Abdi Ayyoub scored the first goal of the game in the fifth minute, followed soon after by a breakthrough from Florian Leitner at the other end.
The defence from both teams made for a low-scoring opening, but at the end of first half, the Swiss had a three-goal advantage at 10-7.
At the 40-minute mark Switzerland retained their lead (19:17), and though Algeria were in hot pursuit, the European team began to increase the score line and eventually sealed a nine-goal win.
Last time, Russia and Denmark met, the latter came out on top with a massive 17-goal win.
This time round, coach Morten Henriksen knew they were coming up against a tougher opponent, who he said were looking a lot better since the European Championship and had the support of a home crowd behind them.
Henriksen was right – Russia immediately took the lead, clearly recovered from the disappointment of their first loss on Tuesday against Switzerland.
Their attack was precise and motivated, with Ruslan Dashko (nine goals) and Dmitrii Santalov a strong combination on the back court and line player Victor Furtsev scoring three of their seven goals in the first 15 minutes (7-6).
Denmark took the lead with a penalty goal from Nikolaj Norager in the 25th minute, before a fast break gave them a two-goal advantage (11-13). But Russia closed the gap to level the score at 14-14 by half-time.
The game looked to be increasingly turning Russia’s way and with 15 minute left, the hosts were in front by two (22:20).
But Denmark came back – Norager broke through to take their deficit to one with five minutes on the clock and Moller equalised with just over three minutes left (26-26).
Inside the last minute Emil Nielsen made a save that gave Denmark possession when the score was locked at 28:28, and Moller scored his 10th to give his side the lead with 15 seconds on the clock. But a ground shot on the buzzer from Bolotin found the back of the net, and both teams left the court with the mixed feelings brought by a draw after a tight match.