PARIS: Germany and Qatar battled into the knock-out round of the World Handball Championships with pool-phase wins over Saudi Arabia 38-24 and Argentina 21-17 respectively on Tuesday as holders France beat Russia 35-24 to take pole position in their group.
For European champions Germany it was a third win from three games in Group C and they even partially rested their star winger Uwe Gensheimer, who nevertheless racked up four goals in 30 minutes in Rouen and oversaw a first half where the result was wrapped up with the score 21-13 at the break.
“It was difficult to keep the concentration high in this game, but this was quite normal after we had a similar match against Chile,” said Germany coach Dagur Sigurdsson.
“Now we have to step up and show a higher quality against Belarus tomorrow (Wednesday).”
Qatar stunned Group D rivals Argentina in Paris 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 in Group B 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 have been overtaken by Iceland, who beat Angola 33-19, with one more group game to play.
In Group B top spot will be played between Spain and Slovenia on Thursday.
The four top teams out of six in each group advance to the next round.
France and Russia are already through to the last 16 so the battle in the western city of Nantes was for top spot in Group A.
