India picked up its second win in as many matches at the IHF Men's Asian Continental Challenge handball tournament, beating Uzbekistan 33-29 here on Saturday.
In Friday's opening match, India pulled away from Kazakhstan after ending the first half trailing by a goal. Against Uzbekistan, the trend was nearly reversed.
The first half an hour was all about India attacking repeatedly and efficiently down the right flank. Uzbek goalkeeper Otabek Tursonov recognised the threat of right-wing Neeraj Singh quite early on, and came off his line quickly whenever he shaped to take a shot.
But Neeraj was too clever to be put off by this, and mixed up lobs and dinks with steeply-angled shots on the bounce to keep Tursonov flailing uselessly. India kept winning 7-metre throws and right-back Shamsher Singh kept converting them. He stepped up to the 7-metre line eight times, and converted every time.
Having ended the first half ahead 23-14, India slipped badly. The key to this was how well the Uzbeks closed down playmaker Yogesh, thereby restricting the supply to Neeraj. India's over-reliance on its right flank stood exposed – the Uzbeks narrowed the gap, and India's left flank did little in response.
Left-back Manish Kumar scored only three goals in the match, left-wing Manpreet Singh none at all. To make things worse, Manpreet and Shamsher picked up red cards for getting three two-minute suspensions. Sergey Rezinkov earned a red for Uzbekistan.
Different styles
The second match of the day saw Pakistan edge Kazakhstan 38-36 in a contest between two very different styles of handball.
Kazakhstan relied on its centre-back not only for distribution but also to score regularly. With a fairly fluid system in place, this position was occupied by either Dilmurad Yuldashev, a quick, powerful dribbler, or Dimitry Chernetsov, blessed with a massive leap. Pivot Yevgeniy Russakov played a crucial role in creating space for their attacks, using his physique to block and nudge defenders out of the way.
Pakistan's counterattacking was the best on view in the tournament so far. Key to this was left-wing Makhdoom Hussain, the smallest and quickest player on the court, who scurried from one end of the court to the other whenever he scented a turnover. The opposite wing was occupied by the game's most prolific player, the left-handed Muhammad Zubair.
These two were central to the game's climax. Makhdoom won a 7-metre throw at 37-36 with less than a minute to go, and Zubair converted it to clinch a game of miniscule margins.
The results:
India 33 (Shamsher Singh 13, Neeraj Singh 9) bt Uzbekistan 29 (Andrey Miroshichenka 10, Aliser Abdualimov 6).
Pakistan 38 (Muhammad Zubair 13, Muhammad Mubeen Ashraf 7) bt Kazakhstan 36 (Dilmurad Yuldashev 10, Dimitry Chernetsov 8).
