El Jaish qualify to semis of IHF Super Globe

El Jaish of Qatar qualified to the semifinals of the 2013 IHF Super Globe after beating Sydney University of Australia 38-14 in the first round on Tuesday. The victory over Sydney University braced El Jaish to occupy the second place in Group (A) behind leaders HSV Hamburg. El Jaish will clash against FC Barcelona in the semifinals. HSV Hamburg took their second victory on Tuesday 27 August by beating tournament host Al-Sadd luckily by 30:29 (18:15). The Champions League winner will face Tunisian side Etoile Sportive du Sahel in the first semi-finals match.  Last year they had won the IHF Super Globe together with Atletico Madrid, this year Joan Canellas (now Hamburg) and Jose Javier Hombrados (now Al-Sadd) faced in this crucial duel for the semi-final. In the first half Hombrados did not save a shot of Canellas, but several other HSV shots, so his team was on eye level most of the time. Hamburg was boosted by the goals of newcomer Zarko Markovic and 2007 World Champions Pascal Hens in the first 30 minutes, while Al-Sadd could count on the hammer goals of Mustafa Alkrad. The Qataris were in lead until the 9:10, before HSV changed their goalkeeper from Johannes Bitter to Marcus Cleverly. And the Danes backed his saves by saving two penalty shots – so the European Champions League winner took the lead again at 12:11 and increased the margin to three goals at the break. And right from the start Hamburg accelerated and increased their efficiency in attack. Thanks to strong Croat Domagoj Duvnjak they marched ahead to 23:17 and seemed to have pre-decided the match. But then the great time of Qatari international Selvedin Omahic started. Scoring five times in only seven minutes he brought his team close to only 23:25 – HSV coach Martin Schwalb had seen enough, took his time-out and changed the goalkeeper again. And this time-out ended the lethargy of the Germans, who played much more concentrated later-on and seemed to have decided the match leading 28:23 and 29:24. But suddenly the Germans stopped playing and allowed brave fighting Al-Sadd to reduce to only one goal. Hamburg was shaken, but did not fall in the end. Top scorers were Markovic with seven goals for HSV and Alkrad, who also scored seven times for Al-Sadd. On the other hand, Al Rayyan suffered a 26-27 defeat against Taubate of Brazil on Tuesday. Source: Qatar Olympic Committee