(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Czech Republic won the President's Cup and finished 17th in the over-all ranking at the 24th Men's Handball World Championship defeating Belarus 32-31 in the final in Duhail.
However, the match was only decided after shoot-out, as the original 60 minutes ended in a 28-28 draw.
Belarus started with a 5-1 defence, pushing left wing Ivan Brouka forward to the right side of their defence, almost like a kind of man to man defence against the Czechs' left back Pavel Horak.
However, it was the Czech Republic who got the better start going ahead 3:1, 4:2 and 6:3.
Belarus managed to catch up at 6-6 mainly due to four goals from Siarhei Rutenka.
It was also Rutenka who benefited from a penalty shot bringing the Belarusians into the lead at 7-6 a few minutes later.
Belarus even went two up at 8-6 and 9-7, but despite Siarhei Rutenka's one-man-show and with eight goals in the first half alone the Czechs got back into the driver's seat and went ahead by two again.
At half-time the Czech Republic were leading by one 14-13.
In the second half, Ivan Brouka moved more towards the centre of the court in the Belarusian 5-1 defence, but that did not stop the Czechs from going two and even three goals ahead again soon after.
Still, Belarus kept coming back even though Rutenka's scoring frequency had decreased a bit - missing even two penalty shots.
During the last quarter of an hour there was never more than one goal separating the two teams.
And when it came to the shoot-out, the Czechs scored four out of five attempts from the seven meter spot, while Belarus only managed to score on three.
Siarhei Rutenka became top scorer for Belarus and in the match with 12 goals, while Filip Jicha, Jakub Hrstka and Ondrej Zdrahala scored six each for the Czech Republic.
The President's Cup final was the second match to be decided by penalty shoot-out yesterday after Chile beat Algeria from the line. In addition, Russia and Iran won their respective placement matches.
Placement match 23 and 24:
Chile vs Algeria 30-28
For the first time in Doha a match needed to be decided by a penalty shoot-out, and Chile were as cold as ice scoring 3-1 thanks to three saves from their goalkeeper Felipe Barrientos. Algeria were permanently in lead until 59:59 as Rodrigo Salinas netted his eleventh individual goal to equalize. Algeria were shocked after letting a seven-goal lead from their hands.
Three minutes before the end the score read 27-24, however, Chile pulled it back and managed to finally defeated the African champions. Ayatollah Hamoud netted eleven times for Algeria.
Placement match 21 and 22:
Iran vs Saudi Arabia 26-22
After a tight start Iran forged 15:10 ahead before the half-time whistle called an end to the first 30 minutes. But the injury-ridden Saudis showed huge strength to reduce the gap to only 16-18.
But that was their last sign of life. Thanks to five unanswered goals the debutants Iran took their second ever victory at World Championships to win this all-Asian duel. The best Saudi of the night was goalkeeper Mohamad Alnassfahan, who saved 15 shots, while the best Iranian was Allahkaram Esteki who netting six times.
Placement match 19 and 20:
Bosnia Herzegovina vs Russia 28-42
The fans in Duhail saw 70 goals in 60 minutes and a well-deserved Russian victory against the Bosnian World Championship debutants, who lacked depth in terms of bench rotation options. This was most visible after the break when they could not keep up with the speed of the Russians anymore.
After an initial Bosnian lead 13-10, the Russians took control turning the tide with an incredible 10-3 run up before the half-time buzzer. The match was close right up until the score read 22-20, then the Russians managed to pick up the pace and push on.
Their frantic scoring toward the end of the second half was helped by 18 saves from goalkeeper Igor Levshin. In the end, the gap was 14 goals and after some disappointing matches, the Russias return home with their heads held high.
Placement match 17 and 18
Belarus vs Czech Republic 31-32
When Peter Stochl saved the fifth Belarusian penalty shot from Kiryl Kniazeu, the Czech players ran towards their goalkeeper, as if he had won the President's Cup for them.
The "Man of the Match" was the Czech match winner saving an overall of two shots in the shoot-out.
Belarusian top scorer was Siarhei Rutenka scoring 12 goals throughout this clash where the lead constantly changed hands. However, Ondrej Zdrahala last gasp equalizer 28-28 seemed to give the Czechs the boost they needed to win the shoot-out.
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