Qatar and Germany player vie for the ball in the President’s Cup final in Yekaterinburg, Russia yesterday.

Agencies/Yekaterinburg, Russia

Qatar lost to Germany 27-29 in a closely fought contest in the President’s Cup final, which was to ascertain the 17/18 place in the championship ranking, at the World Youth Handball Championship  in Yekaterinburg, Russia yesterday.
Qatar had recovered well from their defeat against Russia that shattered their hopes of reaching the last 16 stage Championship, by beating Japan 27-23 to reach the final of President’s Cup.
Germany’s Moritz Schade got his team to a great start with a fast break, and then left back Marian Michalczik scored a superb back shot in the fifth minute to give a 3-1 lead to Germany, who were already looking very dominant.
Qatar coach Julian Gomez called the first time-out of the game when Germany led by 5-1 after seven minutes, but it did little to help. Goalkeeper Joel Birlehm was exceptional as Qatar’s shooters were having a lot of trouble getting past him as the lead swelled to 10-2 after 16 minutes.
But Qatar’s Mohamed Abdelraouf scored four goals to help his team reach a more respectable score of 7-13 in the 23rd minute. But the Germans still finished the first half with a seven-goal advantage.
When the second period began, it was Ahmed Abdelrhem in goal in place of Bozo Subotic, who joined Qatar squad only for their last game against Japan. Qatar did manage to score a five points which prompted Germany coach Christian Schwarzer to call a time-out in the 37th minute, with his team’s lead being reduced to just three points.
On resumption, a spectacular fast break goal from left wing Lucas Mertens put Germany six in front as the match neared its final 15 minutes. Germany were not at their best as the clock ticked down into final minutes, allowing Qatar to come back within two goals. But they held on to win the cup and take 17th place on the final ranking.
Germany coach Schwarzer said after the match: “The tournament was very difficult and we are very disappointed to play in the President’s Cup. I think it’s not our level to play for 17th – the German team should be playing the quarter-finals and semi-finals. We had a very difficult group with Iceland and Spain – three of the teams are in the Quarter- Finals. We started very badly in the first match against Iceland, were better against Venezuela, had a good game against Norway but lost by two goals. It was good against Spain and we lost against Egypt in the last second with a direct throw from the centre. We have to work hard with the young guys to get better.”
In the 23/24 placement match, Algeria secured 23rd place after beating Chile 24-33 at Divs Palace of Sports.  In the 19/20 placement match, Poland overcame Japan 29:24, while Argentina beat Venezuela to secure 21st place.