(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar defeated Algeria 25-21 at the Palace of Sports Stadium here yesterday and climbed to the third place in Group C of the 2015 IHF Men's Youth World Championship.
Trailing 10-11 at half-time in the third round of matches, the Qataris stepped up the tempo in the final 10 minutes to hold on to their four-point lead.
Heiba Moustafa again excelled with six goals while Nour Ahmed and Amor Dhiab scored four goals each. Omar Abdelfattah, Abdulaziz Helali and Amine Guehis scored three goals each.
Djeghaba Baha Nidhal top-scored for Algeria with six goals whikle Hammad Merouane scored five.
Qatar's coach Julian Gomez said: "This was a very difficult match because Algeria's mentality is always difficult for us - they always fight, they never give up."
Qatar's coach Julian Gomez (second from left) and other officials react during yesterday's match.
With a strong squad backed by goalkeeper Ahmed Abdelrhem, Qatar were the favourites ahead of the game and dominated the opening minutes of the match as Algeria took a while to settle in.
By the 17th minute, Qatar were ahead by three goals with the score at 7-4. Then, the Algerians mounted a counter attack and managed to level the scores by the 22nd minute. From there it was a one-for-one race to the break.
Algeria went into the halftime break with a one-goal lead but it did not take Qatar long to level the score and then claim the advantage with a fast break from left-wing Amor Dhiab.
Algeria answered and the score line progressed evenly again.
Then, Abdelrhem saved a fast break attempt by Algeria to keep the score at 17:17 before Qatar really kicked into gear.
A precise shot into the top right corner from left back Moustafa Heiba, who played an outstanding game, took Qatar to a four-goal lead with just over six minutes left (23-19).
Algeria continued to push and were just two goals behind in the 58th minute (23:21) but Heiba scored from the 6m line inside the last minute before Abdelrhem saved Algeria's next shot and the game was decided.
In the first match of the day, Denmark scored an easy, 37-27 win over Croatia and advanced to the knock-out stage by topping Group C with six points.
Later, Switzerland raised their form and determination to upstage hosts Russia 29-26.
Cheered by around 2,000 fans, the hosts ended the first half a mere one point behind the Swiss team (13-14). But Lenny Rubin (seven goals), Albin Alili (six) and Tim Aufdenblatten (six) displayed sharp shooting skills to ensure Switzerland's victory.
Razmaev Vladislav and Dmitri Santalov scored six goals each for the losers.
In Group D, Japan beat Argentina 24-23 (ht 11-11); Slovenia beat Brazil 34-27 (ht 22-13) and France beat Tunisia 34-24 (ht 14-9).
France and Slovenia entered the knock-out stage with six points each.
In Group B, Norway beat Germany 31-29 (ht 13-16) and Iceland edged out Egypt 31-29 (ht 18-12) to qualify for the knock-out stages.
Third-placed Spain hammered Venezuela 47-7 (ht 21-5).
In Group A, Hungary outclassed Serbia 42-29 (ht 21-15), Sweden drubbed South Korea 37-25 (ht-20-12) and in the last match Poland beat Chile 28-16 (ht 16-8).
Hungary lead Group A with six points, followed by Sweden and Poland.
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