(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Chinthana Wasala
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The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Qatar suffered a 19-37 defeat against six-time title-winners France in their opening fixture of the IHF World Handball Championship in Porec, Croatia, yesterday.
Qatar, the reigning Asian champions, were aiming for an upset against the most successful nation in the World Championship's history, but the European champions were too good for the 2015 finalists.
France took a commanding 7-2 lead at 12 minutes and then surged ahead to build an 18-10 lead by halftime before wrapping up the 18-goal win at the Zatika Sport Centre.
Qatar, pitted in Group C for the initial round of the 32-team tournament, will next take on Austria tomorrow before concluding the stage with a clash against Kuwait on January 18.
A decade after their closely contested World Cup final at home in which France won the title, Qatar failed to pose the same level of resistance yesterday. Zarko Markovic and Rafael Capote, two of the key players in the Qatar outfit who also played in the Doha final in 2015, scored three goals each while Frankis Marzo emerged as the top scorer for Al Annabi netting four.
Left-wing Ahmad Madadi also scored four goals, also reaching the significant milestone of 300 career international goals at the same time.
For the French side, Players Thibaud Briet made the biggest contribution, finding the back of the net seven times from nine attempts, while Aymeric Minne added five goals to their account.
France's victory margin could have been larger if not for Qatar's goalkeeper Anadin Suljakovic, who made several crucial saves throughout the match.
French goalkeeper Remi Desbonnet also delivered a standout performance before being substituted by Samir Bellahcene after 45 minutes.
Also yesterday, Italy celebrated their return to the World Championship after a 28-year wait, securing a 32:25 win over Tunisia in their opening match.
Italy's Leo Prantner impressed registering 10 goals, missing only two from his 12 attempts, while Andrea Carlo Parisini, Davide Bulzamini and Simone Mengon scored four goals each. Anouar ben Abdallah was the top scorer for Tunisia with six goals.
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