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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 June 1999 Issue No. 433
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Features Books Living Travel Sports Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Now we get serious
By Inas Mazhar
From now on, any team that loses a single game in the World Handball Championship, currently being held in Egypt, bids adieu to the venue and the tournament. That holds true for such teams as Russia, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Yugoslavia and France, the countries which made the strongest impressions in the preliminary round. According to experts from the International Handball Federation (IHF), they all have a chance at winning the title. Not by coincidence are they all from Europe, the continent where the sport is most popular. Hosts Egypt will surely improve, they say, and will also be a medal aspirant. A lot apparently depends on the form of the day, making surprises possible.
Attendance at the World Handball Championships has been exceptionally high, especially in Egypt's matches (top of the page) that saw the players battling against the likes of Cuba and Germany
(Photos: Khaled El-Fiqi, Ayman Ibrahim, Amr Gamal and Salah Ibrahim)
Round 16 has teams that finished top of their group meeting the fourth-place finishers of a different group while teams that ended up in second place play third-place finishers. The schedule has Egypt going against African champions Tunisia. It's Cuba versus Denmark, Germany playing Algeria and Spain meeting Brazil. Defending champions Russia meet South Korea, Yugoslavia takes on the 1996 Olympic champions Croatia. Hungary meets France, the 1995 world champions, while Sweden takes on Norway.
While Round 16 games are to be played in the same venues that hosted the preliminary rounds -- Cairo, Ismailia and Port Said -- all the matches will be held in Cairo Stadium's main hall starting from the quarter-finals, much to the disappointment of spectators in outlying areas. But according to Peter Muhlematter, president of the IHF's competition's committee, the decision was prompted by television which has requested that all matches be played in one hall to facilitate broadcasting. "We are trying to help everybody in their work. We did not think it would be a problem," Muhlematter said. Game time of the quarter-final matches will not be fixed until the countries involved decide when they want to play, a decision which will be based primarily on what would be the most appropriate time to broadcast their matches back home. As host, Egypt has the right to play the last match of each upcoming stage.
That six non-European countries qualified for the second round -- Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Cuba, Brazil and South Korea -- is rated as a plus by the IHF. The figure is two more than the 1997 World Championships held in Japan, thus supporting IHF endeavours to promote handball as a global sport.
Peter Kovacs, former world-class Hungarian player and now an IHF official, had kind words for Brazil in particular, which pulled off probably the biggest upset of the first round when it beat out Macedonia for a place in Round 16, the first time the South Americans have come this far in a world championship. "One could tell they have done some serious work in the past years," Kovacs said. "They put in more disciplined performances than before and have also finally trained some good goalkeepers."
Dietrich Spate, former German coach, looked closely at Australia, which is appearing for the first time in a world championship. "Even when they lost by a big margin, the team fought right down to the final whistle. If they improve at the technical level, they will be able to compete with other teams at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney," Spate said.
The preliminary round saw new trends emerging in modern-day handball. IHF officials noticed that there are more jump shots taken and fewer shots taken while on the run. In one-on-one situations, the defender won more often than not. Wingers were becoming more effective. More and more teams are varying their defensive formations while games are in progress. Some teams have lengthened their build-up phase by passing more.
The IHF said referees, who took part in a crash course in Cairo prior to the championships, were a bright spot in the championship. Despite occasional criticism from coaches and spectators, the refereeing, they say, has been more than adequate.
Even matches with lopsided scores had an appeal of their own because, the IHF experts say, there was consistency in the way stronger teams played. With one round down and a second beginning, there will be fewer high-scoring games but no less exciting matches. "The IHF is looking forward to an interesting second week," Muhlematter said.
On the sidelines
Press ban
Egypt's Spanish coach Javier Cuesta has banned his players and assistants from talking to the press. Apparently, he wants the team to focus on just one goal: finishing higher than sixth place, a position where Egypt ended up in the last two world championships.Special treatment
Ismailia spectators have made no secret of their backing for Arab and African teams. They reserved their loudest cheers for Kuwait in its match against Croatia. They also sided with Nigeria when it played Hungary. But when Russia and Norway met, they were decidedly neutral.An Aussie-Egyptian
The Australian captain is originally Egyptian. Karim Shehab, 32, was born to an Egyptian father who immigrated to Down Under in the 1960's.Friendly faces
Several players have said they were impressed with the opening ceremony, especially the folklore performance. Praise was also heaped on the organisation of the championship, the accommodations and the general friendliness showed by the hosts.The fastest
French star Jackson Richardson has been dubbed the fastest player out of the 384 participants. Richardson, 31, is a key player on the French squad which has played in 11 World Cups, winning the title in 1995.
