QATAR: El Jaish beat Lekhwiya in derby!

The most powerful team of Asia, Qatari El Jaish Sports Club, going strongly towards first title in the season in the national Championship. Team coached by SpaniardToni Gerona won seven matches at the start of the Qatari league including derby encounter with Lekhwiya 29:23 (16:14).

STANDINGS:

1 El-JAISH El-JAISH 21 – 7
2 LEKHWIYA LEKHWIYA 19 – 7
3 Al-GHARAFA Al-GHARAFA 18 – 7
4 Al-QIYADA Al-QIYADA 16 – 7
5 Al-RAYYAN Al-RAYYAN 13 – 6
6 Al-ARABI Al-ARABI 13 – 7
7 QATARSC QATARSC 13 – 7
8 Al-SADD (QAT) Al-SADD (QAT) 12 – 7
9 Al-WAKRH Al-WAKRH 11-6
10 Al-SHAMAL Al-SHAMAL 11 -7
11 Al-AHLI Al-AHLI 10-7
12 Al-KHOR Al-KHOR 7-7

OLYMPIC DREAM COMES TRUE: Qatar will play in Rio!

Qatar wil play in Rio! The first ever team from Persian Gulf country who will ever compete at Olympic Games will be Valero Rivera team who achieved the second big goal afte silver medal at World Championship 2015. Qatar beat Iran 28:19 at the Final match of Asiah qualification tournament in Doha.

Iran will play at the Olympic qualification tournament, Bahrain as well as the third team after win over Korea 34:21.

France, Brazil, Argentina and Qatar are four teams qualified for Rio 2016.

2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #1	2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #2	2016 Olympic Qualification Tournament #3
2nd from World : 7th from World : 2nd from America : Chile 2nd from Africa :	3rd from World : 6th from World : 2nd from Asia : Iran 3rd from Europe :	4th from World : 5th from World : 2nd from Europe : 3rd from Asia : Bahrain

OLYMPIC DREAM: Qatar or Iran in Rio!

Qatar and Iran will fight for the Asian place at the Olympic Games in Rio! Two teams, who already meet in group where Qatari guys won by 17 goals, will play at the Final of the Asian Qualification tournament on Friday in Doha.

Valero Rivera team had no problem to outplay Korea 30:26. The final result doesn’t show the real difference between two teams because Qatar had 25:15 ten minutes before the end.

Iran beat Bahrain 35:30 in the first semi-final battle.

The bronze medal team will also win chance to qualify for Olympic Games through qualifications.

ASIA BATTLE FOR RIO 2016: Four teams, one dream

Four teams still hope to find their place at Olympic Games in Rio at Asian qualification tournament in Doha! Bahrain beat South Korea 31:30 in the decisive battle for the first place which means that Koreans will meet domestic team – Qatar at the semi-final!

Iran secured second TOP spot in the second group by beating Saudi Arabia 30:24. Iranians will play against Bahrain for the place in the final, which means securing place at Olympic qualification tournament next April.

Semi-final matches will be played on Wednesday.

ASIAN BATTLE FOR RIO 2016: Qatar smash Iran to reach semi-final

The first team at Asian Qualification tournament for Olympic Games in Rio is Qatar! Valero Rivera boys showed power by beating the strongest rival in the group – Iran 32:17 which put them on the TOP of the group after four rounds. Qatar secured semi-final spot, while for the second will fight Iran and Saudi Arabia, which match will look carefully Japan, who also has some theoretical chances to finish second.

STANDINGS:
Qatar 8
Iran 6
Saudi Arabia 4
Japan 4
Oman 2
Uzbekistan 0

In the second group, Bahrain and South Korea won first two clashes, but still two rounds are ahead.

STANDINGS:
Bahrain 4
Korea 4
Iraq 2
China 2
Australia 0  – 3

Asian battle for RIO 2016: Qatar and Iran celebrate second wins

Qatar and Iran showed that they are comfortable in a role of favorite for the semi-finals at Asian Qualification tournament in Doha. Qatar beat Japan 36:19, while Iran had no troubles against Uzbekistan 33:18.

In third match of Group B, Saudi Arabia beat Oman 29:23.

STANDINGS:
Qatar 4
Iran 4
Saudi Arabia 2
Japan 2
Oman 0
Uzbekistan 0

Asian battle for RIO 2016: Qatar begin with +40!

Olympic qualification tournament in Doha began on Saturday with 11 teams in two groups. Only the winner will qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio. Two biggest favorites are Qatar and Korea, but also Iran and Bahrain could dream about VISA for Brazil.

Group A:

Korea – Iraq 26:20
China – Australia 29:24

Group B:
Qatar – Uzbekistan 49:9
Iran – Oman 39:31
Japan – Saudi Arabia 27:19

NEW CHAPTER OF UAE SPORTS: Dubai IHC starts competition in Premier League

A new chapter in the history of sports in the United Arab Emirates is going to be written on Friday – the UAE Premier Handball League starts with one new participant. Dubai International Handball Club (DIHC), a club established by non-UAE nationals, becomes the first predominantly expatriate club to participate in top division of team sport competition in the Emirates.

“We are honored to become the first top-division team established by non-UAE nationals. This is a great moment for us, but this is a great moment for handball and sports in the UAE as well. Place for DIHC in history of sports in the UAE is reserved. Quality of our work and efforts we made on promoting handball and building cross-cultural understanding and exchange in the Emirates are recognized. On behalf of DIHC I want to thank the UAE Handball Federation, and especially its president, Dr Majid Sultan Bin Suleiman, on their supportiveness and readiness to move the borders and make handball accessible to all UAE residents”, stated Dario Menichetti, founder and team captain of DIHC.

“We are ready for the league debut. Al Ahli, our opponent on the league debut, is strong team and we respect their great tradition and reputation. However, we believe in ourselves. Nothing is impossible in sports. We will try to surprise them on Friday and will do our best on the pitch. This is just a great moment – let the handball win”, stated Jalil Machou, DIHC player.

The game against Al Ahli, being the first competitive game of DIHC in the Emirates Premier League, is going to be played on Friday, 5PM, at Al Ahli SC in Dubai.

WARM UP FOR RIO BATTLE: Qatar and Bahrain dominant in the latest tests

Only a week before the Asian qualification tournament for Olympic Games 2016, Qatar organized tournament at home court in Doha with the participation of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and China. Valero Rivera team showed great domination in the first two clashes against Saudi Arabia 32:22 and China 39:13.

Almost on the same level was performance of the Asian vice-champions from 2014, Bahrain. Bahreini boys lead by Slovenian coach Borut Macek outplayed easily China 42:20 and Saudis 30:22.

For the first place on the last preparation tournament before start of the Asian qualifications for Rio (November 14), will play the finalists of Asian Championship 2014 – Qatar and Bahrain.

Nenad Kljajic leads Saudi Arabia at WCh 2013 in Spain

Croatian coach, Nenad Kljajic will lead Saudi Arabia NT at the World Championship in Spain next January. Former C.O Zagreb’s coach was sacked after open critics of Slavko Goluza’s work on the position of NT coach. Kljajic is member of golden Croatian generation from Atlanta 1996, when his father Velimir was NT coach.

Saudi Arabia wil play in Group C with Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Belarus and Slovenia.

IHF Super Globe: Kiel and Atletico Madrid with the first victories! IHF Super Globe: Kiel and Atletico Madrid with the first victories

There were no surprises in the first matches of the IHF Super Globe in Doha.

Mudhar – University of Sydney 32:27 (15:12)Amine Bannour 7, Majed Aboalraha 4; University – Diego Liorente 8, Rafael Leis 5, Oliver Junker 4, Tomasz Szklarski 3.

Al Zamalek – Metodista Sao Bernardo 33:24 (12:14)
Al Zamalek – Hussein Zaki 7, Ahmed Mostafa 6, Mohamed Hesham 5; Sao Bernardo – Carlos Castillo 6, Fabio Chiuffa 5, Gustavo Cardoso, Diogo Hubner – 4.

BM Atletico Madryt – Al Jaish 28:23 (11:13) 
Atletico – Kiril Lazarov 7, Jonas Kallman, Alvaro Ferrer –  4, Mariusz Jurkiewicz 3; Al Jaish – Jure Dolenec 6, Hassan Mabrouk 4.

THW Kiel – Al Sadd 29:26 (9:16) 
Kiel – Marko Vujin 7, Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson 5, Dominik Klein 4; dla Al Sadd – Dragan Gajić 8, William Accambray, Nikola Karabatić, Christian Malmagro oraz Issam Tej – 3.

Kristian Kjelling plays Play Off in Qatar

Norwegian star and one of the most attractive handball players on the Earth, Kristian Kjelling (32) goes to Qatar for 10 days to play in the Play-Off. He got “green light” from his team, Danish Aalborg, so he will be able to help his Al Ahli Sports Club to make best possible performance in the finish of their Championship.

Before Denmark, left back of Norwegian NT played in Spain for Ademar Leon and Portland San Antonio.

The result of the draw for the V Beach Handball WC in Oman

The draw for the V Beach Handball World Championships, which will be organized from 8 to 13 July in Al Musannah Sports City in Oman was executed today, 14 May, in the Shangri La Hotel in Muscat.

The draw was conducted in presence of the 1st Vice President of the International Handball Federation Mr. Miguel Roca Mas and the IHF Beach Handball Working Group, and H.E. Abdullah al Saeedi, Minister of Legal Affairs of Oman on behalf of the Local Organizing Committee. Mirza Dzomba, a 2003 World Champion and 2004 Olympic Winner with Croatia was also participated in the draw in his role as Ambassador of the 2012 Beach Handball World Championships.

After a rather charming program, which included traditional Omani music dances as well as modern artistic performance, the draw was conducted according to regulations previously announced by the International Handball Federation.

The draw results as follows:

Women’s Tournament

Group A  Group B

CRO    NOR

DEN    BRA

ITA      HUN

CHN      THA

URU     POL

AUS     SIN

Men’s Tournament

Group A    Group B

BRA      CRO

RUS     EGY

UKR     ESP

OMA   QAT

MAR   URU

AUS     KUW

Home / News / Asia / Dragan Zovko new Qatar Youths coach! Dragan Zovko new Qatar Youths coach!

The coach of many French clubs in the past,Dragan Zovko, is going to Doha as he is to coach the country’s national youth team. He will lead the youth Qatari at the Asian games, which are qualifying ones for the upcoming World Championship, which is to be held 2013 in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Iranian youngstar Iman Jamali is on trial in MKB Veszprem!

Iranian youngstar,Iman Jamali (20, 202 cm /102 kg) is on trial in Hungarian champion, MKB Veszprém. Jamali was the second best scorer at the last Junior World Championship in Greece last year.

Saudi Arabia qualifies for the WCh 2013 in Spain!

The third National Team qualified for the World Championship in Spain from the Asian Championship is Saudi Arabia. In the crucial match for bronze medal and WCh 2013 VISA, Arabians were clearly better from Japan 25:20. The Asian Gold takes South Korea after win in the Final against Qatar 23:22.

South Korea and Qatar qualify for the WCh 2013 in Spain!

In the crucial battles for the World Championship 2013 Visa at the Asian Games,  South Korea beats Saudia Arabia27:26 (14:13), while Qatar had fantastic 60 minutes against Japan 33:28 (19:13). 

For the Gold Medal at the Asian Games will play the most recognized team from Asia, Korea and Qatar, host nation of the World Championship 2015. Game for the Bronze will be also very interesting, because Japan and Saudia Arabia will decided, who will be the third team from Asia for WC 2013 in Spain next January.

South Korea at the Olympic Games 2012!

The fourth team that will for sure be at the Olympic Games 2012 is South Korea. Besides France, Great Britain and Argentina, the Asian side has reached the olympics through a victory against Japan with 26:21. They’re being led by Yoon, a former Gummersbach player. In the game for the third place, Iran beat Saudi Arabia with 21:20.

photo courtesy of: Lee Sang-sub / The Korea Herald

Successful Global Coaching Clinic staged in Oman

The second part of the first ever IHF Global Coaching Clinic in Oman proved a great success. After the first part being held by IHF coaching experts and lec-turers on the fringes of the Super Globe in Qatar, the second part took place in Oman. The same group of 44 coaches from 20 Asian and Arabic-speaking countries learned about coaching methods, psychology and sports medicine. After Sylvain Nouet and Alain Quintallet, two coaches working for France’s successful men’s national team, lending some insight into their work during the Qatar session, former Yugoslav goalkeeping legend Abaz Arslanagic attended the GCC in Oman, which was divided into theoretical and practical parts again and focused on goalkeeper training. Frantisek Taborsky, Dietrich Späte, Zoltan Marczinka and Nabeel Taha Al-Shehab attended the course on behalf of the IHF Commission of Coaching and Methods (CCM).

The participants underwent 130 teaching units in total during the two course parts, and they were the first to receive the new IHF Coaching License Level A. The closing ceremony in Oman was attended by IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa and Oman’s royalty.

Dr Moustafa had conceived the idea of launching the Global Coaching Clinic programme all over the world. It aims at promoting handball federations, coaches and players in all continents and reaching a higher level of education for coaches. The programme aims high so that only national federations may nominate candidates to participate in the courses. Those coaches must have worked for their federations, if possible as a national team coach. In the end of the first ever Global Coaching Clinic in Qatar and Oman all 44 coaches – includ-ing two female coaches – had attained the same level – and the IHF-CCM’s activities with these coaches have not been finished yet, as the GCC graduates will be monitored and will meet again in two or three years to exchange and widen their coaching experience.

The coaches were taught in small groups with only ten participants per lecturer to obtain in-depth knowledge. “Those coaches tremendously increased their knowledge,” CCM member Dietrich Späte said after the second part of the course. Now it’s up to the coaches themselves to spread their knowledge in their countries, as one of their missions is to multiply their knowledge by teach-ing other coaches.

The GCC in Qatar and Oman was the beginning of a series of so-called clinics all around the world. The next GCC will take place in Africa. These training courses are an integral part of those measures taken by the IHF to improve and develop handball outside Europe and to establish a consistent coaching level worldwide. The IHF is the first International Federation to issue those worldwide valid coaching licences level A.

Pakistan, Tajikistan and Afganistan play handball

RAHIM YAR KHAN: A handball match between Pakistan and Tajikistan will be played in Rahim Yar Khan on April 19, making it the first international event in the district according to District Sports Officer Syed Waqar Hussain Gilani.

Gilani while talking to APP on Friday said the teams would arrive in South Punjab’s historic city on April 18.

“This would be the first international competition in the district”, Gilani said of the match being organised under the aegis of Pakistan Football Federation.

Afghanistan and Tajikistan’s handball team’s are currently in Pakistan, one of the top handball teams in Asia, on an eight-day tour which features matches between the three teams across the country.

China with handball league!

Good news for handball are coming from Asia. The most populous nation on Earth, the Chinese, have already started their new league, with matches played last week-end, and teams seeded into North and South division. This means growth in handball popularity, and hopefully perhaps also bigger competitivity of the non-European teams at World Championships.

Eight teams are competition from May to September, and then the final rounds will take place in September. The league will be supervised by the national coach Wang Xindong. On the other hand, the Women’s league had it’s successful premiere in March, and results are to come yet for Chinese handball.

Vietnam to watch EHF Champions League

The VELUX EHF Champions League, Europe’s premier men’s club handball competition, is to be shown in Vietnam thanks to a new television deal brokered by MP & Silva, the international sports media rights agency, and EHF Marketing GmbH, the marketing arm of the European Handball Federation.

Vietnamese television station, SCTV (Saigon Tourist Cable TV Company), is to take two live matches per round for the remainder of the season as well as the final weekend event, the VELUX EHF FINAL4, which will take place on 28 and 29 May 2011 in Cologne, Germany.

SCTV was founded in 1992 as a joint venture between Saigon Tourist & Vietnam Television (VTV), evolving into a cable TV service in 2001. It has 72 channels with over 1,000,000 subscribers in 24 districts, including Ho Chi Minh City, Long An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Vung Tau, and its reach is still expanding.

SCTV has 17 of its own channels including one sports channel. Its current sports programming includes the English Premier League Saturday and Monday packages, AC Milan Channel, Barca TV, Real Madrid TV, ATP 250/500/1000 tournaments, Roland Garros and combat sports.

The successful deal is a result of the collaboration between MP & Silva and EHF Marketing GmbH to extend the distribution of the VELUX EHF Men’s Champions League and the EHF Women’s Champions League in Asia.

Commenting on the addition of SCTV to its list of broadcasters, Managing Director of EHF Marketing GmbH, Peter Vargo, said: “It is very pleasing to see more and more international broadcasters wanting to show top class handball from the VELUX EHF Champions League. As the biggest Pay TV channel in Vietnam, SCTV is an important partner for us and we look forward to a successful future cooperation.”

IHF Super Globe 2011 in Qatar

After the successful IHF Super Globe tournament in 2010, the Al Sadd Club (QAT) will organize the “World Championship for Club Teams” on behalf of the IHF again. The fifth edition of the IHF Super Globe is planned to take place in Doha, Qatar from 14 to 18 May 2011.

Other than 2010, when six teams competed for the title, now eight clubs from all continents will play for the trophy in two Preliminary Round groups with four teams each.

The first stage is directly followed by the matches for Gold, Bronze and the places 5/6 and 7/8.

In addition to hosts Al Sadd (QAT), IHF Super Globe title defenders Renovalia Ciudad Real (ESP) and the reigning VELUX EHF Men’s Champions League winners THW Kiel (GER) have already qualified for this year’s edition.

Furthermore the continental champions from Asia, Africa, Pan-America and Oceania will participate. The eighth club will be another team from hosting nation Qatar (wild card owner).

Previous IHF Super Globe winners

• 1997 in Vienna, Austria: Teka Santander (ESP)
• 2002 in Doha, Qatar: Al Sadd (QAT)
• 2007 in Cairo, Egypt: Ciudad Real (ESP)
• 2010 in Doha, Qatar: Ciudad Real (ESP)

Draw of the 2011 Super Globe (Qatar): THW Kiel and Ciudad Real separated

The draw of the 2011 Super Globe in Qatar took place on 19 March in Doha, Qatar, conducted by Leon Kalin, President of the IHF Commission of Organising and Competition (COC).

The results of the draw are as follows:

Group A

THW Kiel (GER)

2nd team (QAT)

Al-Saad (LEB)

Pan America Representative

Group B

Ciudad Real (ESP)

Al Sadd (QAT)

Africa Representative

Southern Stars (AUS)

The preliminary round matches will be played from 14 to 16 May followed by a rest day. The placement matches and finals will be staged on 18 May.

The IHF will publish the playing schedule and further details in due time.

First IHF Global Coaching Clinic in Bahrain and Qatar

Starting in Bahrain and Qatar, the International Handball Federation will organize special courses for top coaches from all over the world – so called Global Coaching Clinics (GCC) – in all continents. All national federations can nominate their applicants for those Clinics. The first one is addressed to all coaches from Asia and all Arabic speaking countries.
This GCC is divided into two parts, starting 19 – 26 March in Bahrain, followed by the second and final part on the fringes of the IHF Super Globe in Qatar (the exact date will be announced soon).

An IHF working group has worked on the concept of those GCCs which promote coaches to a top level and finish with the coaching licence level A (the top IHF licence). Besides there are two more levels (B and C) to be reached. The GCCs had been created especially for countries that don’t have their own licensing system for coaches – and IHF is trying to recruit international top coaches as lecturers of the GCCs. Only national federations can nominate the participants (a maximum of three people per federation) – and the candidates must be active coaches on advanced level and English speaking. Further objectives of the GCC are to teach the coaches to be multipliers, to develop handball in their regions and to be a potential continental lecturer.

The GCC will be led by CCM members in small teaching groups, and every participant will have a personal mentor during and after the course. Topics of the GCCs are all kinds of individual and group tactical training methods (part I) and strategic and long-term coaching including sports medicine.
For further information about the Global Coaching Clinics, please contact the IHF Head Office in Basle.

First IHF Global Coaching Clinic in Bahrain and Qatar

Starting in Bahrain and Qatar, the International Handball Federation will organize special courses for top coaches from all over the world – so called Global Coaching Clinics (GCC) – in all continents. All national federations can nominate their applicants for those Clinics. The first one is addressed to all coaches from Asia and all Arabic speaking countries.
This GCC is divided into two parts, starting 19 – 26 March in Bahrain, followed by the second and final part on the fringes of the IHF Super Globe in Qatar (the exact date will be announced soon).

An IHF working group has worked on the concept of those GCCs which promote coaches to a top level and finish with the coaching licence level A (the top IHF licence). Besides there are two more levels (B and C) to be reached. The GCCs had been created especially for countries that don’t have their own licensing system for coaches – and IHF is trying to recruit international top coaches as lecturers of the GCCs. Only national federations can nominate the participants (a maximum of three people per federation) – and the candidates must be active coaches on advanced level and English speaking. Further objectives of the GCC are to teach the coaches to be multipliers, to develop handball in their regions and to be a potential continental lecturer.

The GCC will be led by CCM members in small teaching groups, and every participant will have a personal mentor during and after the course. Topics of the GCCs are all kinds of individual and group tactical training methods (part I) and strategic and long-term coaching including sports medicine.
For further information about the Global Coaching Clinics, please contact the IHF Head Office in Basle.

WC 2011 in Sweden Predictions: Croatia goes for gold!

When we made a predictions for Women’s EHF EURO 2010, we “captured” 3 of 4 semifinalist and hit the winner, Norway and bronze team, Romania. That’s why Handball-Planet.com team try to test knowledge or lucky again on coming Men’s World Championship in Sweden (13 – 30 January).

Medals winners:
1. CROATIA (With fantastic semi season in their teams around Europe and with no huge healthy problems, Croatia is on the way to repeat Portugal 2003 and finish on the TOP.
2. FRANCE (Injuries of Gille and Narcisse are big problems for French team. With no real replacement for Fernandez and Karabatić in 10 games, we can’t say that “triple” champions are the first favorite.
3. SPAIN (It is time for comeback. World Champions from 2005 with Rivera on the bench are ready for something big. Experienced players, also a coach and maybe easier part of the draw, give them a chance to enter battle for medals)

Other places:
4. POLAND (Big generation of Polish handball, still need more to become a winner at some big event. They will show their qualities, but probably will be defeated in most important matches).
5. SWEDEN (Host team hasn’t real quality for semifinal, but they will be on the edge for this. With their fans and atmosphere, a little wind from a refferes, they will achieve the highest place from “the others”).
6. ICELAND (Crucial match for semifinal will be one against Spain. We think that is time for ASOBAL boys, but who know. With Iceland you never know).
7. DENMARK (Loss of Hvidt, Jorgensen and Knudsen will take effect on their performances. In company with host team, Croatia and Poland, they will probably fall out first two places).
8. NORWAY (Even they think about semifinal, they don’t have a quality for that, but still, they are very danger team and probably will make some problems to “better”.
9. SERBIA (Some TOP individuals, probably won’t make a team. Serbia is the squad, who can beat everyone, but the biggest problem is continuity and lack of experience at big tournament for something really big.
10. HUNGARY (Hungarians have a team for second round, but nothing more. Still, they can play on high level, maybe not all the games…)
11. GERMANY (An average team with so high ambitions. That is normal, when you know how much is handball popular in Germany, but still, lack of TOP players and sometimes “boring” play aren’t something for a optimism).
12. SOUTH KOREA (Always nobody knows anything about them, but form from Bercy showed that they can play against Europeans. Game against Slovakia are they final.

Veselin Vujović a new coach of Cimos Koper?

The best world player in 1986, former Yugoslav left back and then coach of many teams in former Yugoslavia (Ciudad Real also) and national teams of Serbia and Montenegro and also Macedonia, Veselin Vujović leaved his last job in Qatar before New Year and probably will agree with Slovenian, Cimos Koper from the 2011/2012 season, said unofficial informations from Slovenia.

Vujović, one of the best player of all time, last season was on the bench of Macedonian, Vardar Skopje. After they finished second last summer, he decided to try with an adventure far away from home…

The President of the International Handball Federation Dr.Hassan Moustafa proposes interesting changes

The President of the International Handball Federation, Hasan Mustafa, gave a very interesting interview for the German newsmagazine ‘Sportbild’. The person who is responsible for popularizing handball, gave some debatable proposals, first mentioning that maybe the distance between the posts should be shortened, and at the same time the goalkeeper area should be moved from six to seven meters.

– Goalkeepers today have 30-35% saves. Their saves are attractive for the public, and contribute to the performance of the team. If we shortened the goals and enlarge the goalkeeper area, their impact would be much bigger. That would provide more attacks and would make the game much faster.

He also rejected the idea that some of the top clubs in Europe, and the handball players federation proposed, to make the European and World Championships not be played so often, and perhaps on every 4 years:

– I am absolutely against that. That would be the death of handball. Competitions of highest profile are needed every year.

Mustafa tried to explain his observation with the fact that the game between THW Kiel and Grosswalstadt is watched by 300,000 viewers, while the matches of the German national team attract 10 million viewers.

When it will be the time to change some of the referee rules, which base much of their refereeing on subjective assumption, is yet to see…

Zarko Markovic in Al Ahly (Saudi Arabia)

Right back of Montenegrin national team and former player of Cepelin, Jugovic Kac, MKB Veszprem, VfL Gummersbach and Buducnost Podgorica, Zarko Markovic (24) sign seven months contract with the champion of Saudi Arabia, Al Ahly. Informations from Montenegrin PRESS telling about a figure of 150.000 EUR (salary).  Markovic was one of the most talented lefthanded players in his generation (won U 18 World and European Championships with Serbia and Montenegro in generation with Sesum and Nenadic), but he didn’t aprove that in senior competition. After a little playing time in MKB Veszprem in couple with Marko Vujin, Markovic spent just a few weeks in Vfl Gummersbach, before he moved to Podgorica in summer 2009. Season in Buducnost is ended by team bankrupt, after he stayed without a team, until now.

Al-Sad won Asian Club League Championship

Lebanese Al-Sad has won the title at the 13th Asian Club League Championship, played in Beirut. The team from the hosting nation didn’t have any problems beating Mudhar from Saudi-Arabia 33:28. The match had already been pre-decided at the break, when Al-Sad led 19:12. Al-Sadd from Qatar won the bronze final by beating Zobahan from Iran28:26 (16:11).

The final ranking of the 13th Asian Club League Championship:
1. Al-Sad (Lebanon), 2. Mudhar (Saudi-Arabia), 3. Al-Sadd (Qatar), 4. Zobahan (Iran), 5. Foolad (Iran), 6. Al Sadaka (Lebanon), 7. Naft Al-Janoob (Iraq), 8. Aljazeera (UAE), 9. Jaish (Iraq)

South Korea withdraws their candidacy to host the WC for men 2013

South Korea have withdrawn their candidacy to host the World Championship for men in 2013, and this leaves Norway, Denmark and Spain to be the remaining candidates for the hosting of this great event. The decision will be made on October the 2nd in Herzogenarauch, Germany.

Regarding the possible outcomes, it is important to mention that Denmark is also trying to host the European Championship 2014 and the 2013 female World Championship. Well-informed sources say that the biggest chances to get the 2013 World Championship has Spain, as Sweden is hosting World Championship 2011 (another Scandinavian country), and at the same time Spain has never hosted a World Championship, therefore it would be logical that the World Championship is rewarded to Spain. Are the prognosis true, we will find out in two weeks.

Pero Milosevic with Bahrain at WC 2011

Former headcoach of Montenegro, Pero Milosevic, with whom at the bench this national team qualified for the first and last time at some European or World Championship (EURO 2008 in Norway),  will lead national team of Bahrain in their appearance at World Championship in Sweden 2011. Last job of former well-known player in Yugoslavia was a coach of Montenegro U18 national team.

13th Asian Club League Champioship in Beirut

In Lebanon capital, Beirut will be played Club League Championship among nine best teams from Middle East under Asian Handball Federation. From 25th September until 7th October teams will compete in two groups. Best four (two from each group) will play for a title of Asian Champion.

Group A:
Al Sadd – Lebanon
Naft Al Gan – Iraq
Foolad ESF – Iran
Mudhar – Saudi Arabia

Group B:
Al Sadaqa – Lebanon
Al Jazira – UAE
Al Geish – Iraq
Al Sadd – Qatar
Zobnah ESF – Iran

Draw results of the Women’s Junior World Championship in Korea

The draw of the 2010 Women’s Junior World Championship in Korea took place on 24 May according to the following procedure:

The results of the draw are as follows:

GROUP A: NOR, FRA, GER, TUN, SRB, PAN-AM4

GROUP B: KOR, NED, ARG, CHN, COD, CRO

GROUP C: HUN, ESP, JPN, BRA, THA, AUS

GROUP D: RUS, SWE, ANG, MNE, MEX, HKG

Due to the fact that the qualified teams from Puerto Rico and Uruguay cancelled their participation and the Pan-American Team Handball Federation (PATHF) did not appoint a substitute nation so far, the last representative from Pan-America is not decided yet.

The IHF will publish the playing schedule and further details in due time.

Super Globe started in Qatar!

The favourites of the Super Globe were starting with victories in their first matches. First of all Ciudad Real from Spain won 28:22 against the African Champion Al-Zamalek Cairo in the opening match. In the first 15 minutes the match was equal, than the Spanish team became stronger and stronger. Only during a small period in the second half the Egyptians fought back (20:25), but the team of former world class player Talant Dushebajev ended the match thanks to their cleverness with a clear victory.

In the second match between host Al-Sadd Sports Club Doha and AS – Sadd Club Lebanonthe spectators celebrated the clear victory of their team. The final result was 30:19. Already in the halftime the difference by goals was clear with a halftime result of 15:10. Not only the superstars Balic, Joergensen, Lazarov, Alilovic and Nikolic glistened, also the young players Alkhater and Al-Khabi played very well. So both favourites demonstrated, that they are ready to win this tournament.