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Egypt also ensure eight-finals berth at handball worlds
Agencies
Paris
Germany and Qatar moved into the knock-out round of the World Handball Championships after respective pool-phase wins over Saudi Arabia (38-24) and Argentina (21-17) on Tuesday.
For European champions Germany it was a third win from three games and they even partially rested their star winger Uwe Gensheimer, who nevertheless racked up four goals in 30 minutes and oversaw a first half where the result was wrapped up with the score 21-13 at the break.
Germany coach Dagur Sigurdsson said,"It was difficult to keep up the concentration high in this game, but this was quite normal after we had a similar match against Chile.
"Now we have to step up and show a higher quality against Belarus tomorrow."
Qatar stunned Argentina in a low-scoring affair and the Qataris can thank their goalkeeper Danijel Saric for his 14 saves.
It means neither regional rivals Bahrain nor the Argentines can catch them in the standings.
Tunisia could have secured a last-16 spot too but for a late collapse after they let slip a 28-23 lead in the last five minutes as Slovenia fought back to force a thrilling 28-28 draw.
That means Macedonia are also through to the next round without throwing a further ball, while Tunisia can now be overtaken by Iceland.
Also earning their place in the knock-outs from Group D were Egypt, who recorded their third strong win, defeating Argentina by five goals 31-26.
For Argentina, it is the fourth straight loss, and they, therefore, have no opportunity to progress to the next round. The Pan American team have the small consolation in that they performed much better than in previous games at France 2017, where they have had trouble finding the form shown in previous tournaments.
After Egypt took an early lead thanks to a stronger opening Argentina roared to life with a 3:1 run that levelled the score at 3:3 in the eighth minute.
Once Argentina equalised they appeared much more in control while Egypt looked for ideas to beat the flexible defence. Finally, the African champions found a way to beat the Pan American team's system and were rewarded with a two-goal edge at 7:5 off a goal from Karim Abdelrahim midway through the half.
Once the two-goal gap opened Egypt reclaimed control, as goalkeeper Karim Hendawy saved what should have been an easy opportunity for Argentina off a breakthrough in the middle of the court and Yehia Elderaa added a fast break that took the score to 8:5.
Egypt held the three-goal difference as the half progressed, though Argentina displayed improved form after their rocky start to France 2017, which saw them record three devastating losses to open their campaign.
With five minutes left in the half, Argentina came within two thanks to a goal from right back Federico Vieyra, who tallied an incredible 12 for the match, but they could not decrease the score further. Egypt added one more goal with a penalty from Mohammed Sanad before the break, and when the match resumed were quick to create a more decisive advantage.
Hendawy saved a penalty against Federico Fernandez just after the 40-minute mark when Egypt led 19:15, and by the time the clock showed 45 minutes his team had pulled further in front to 21:15.
At that point, it seemed the two points were clearly decided, though Egypt could not relax particularly considering the strong finish Argentina had in their previous round against Qatar when they staged a late comeback that threatened the Asian team's command of the match.
But there was no such comeback against Egypt, and when Vieyra scored his 11th goal on a penalty, Argentina still trailed 23:27 and the African champs could afford to feel confident of their eight-final qualification.
Standings in the World Handball Championships in France on Tuesday (played, won, drawn, lost, for, against, points):
Group A
France 3 3 0 0 93 63 6
Russia 3 2 0 1 87 77 4
Norway 3 2 0 1 78 75 4
Brazil 3 2 0 1 71 79 4
Poland 3 0 0 3 64 74 0
Japan 3 0 0 3 72 97 0
Group B
Spain 3 3 0 0 95 64 6
Slovenia 3 3 0 0 97 72 6
Macedonia 3 2 0 1 87 81 4
Iceland 3 0 1 2 68 75 1
Tunisia 3 0 1 2 73 82 1
Angola 3 0 0 3 69 115 0
Group C
Germany 3 3 0 0 100 61 6
Croatia 3 3 0 0 90 76 6
Hungary 3 1 0 2 85 87 2
Belarus 3 1 0 2 82 89 2
Chile 3 1 0 2 75 97 2
Saudi Arabia 3 0 0 3 73 95 0
Group D
Denmark 3 3 0 0 95 75 6
Sweden 3 2 0 1 93 60 4
Qatar 3 2 0 1 73 61 4
Egypt 3 2 0 1 81 84 4
Bahrain 3 0 0 3 67 96 0
Argentina 3 0 0 3 56 89 0
Note: Top four teams qualify for next round
