Egypt finished a lowly 14th in the World Handball Championship which ended in Croatia. Inas Mazhar sees what the federation plans to do about it The Egyptians played nine matches in the two-week, 24-team tournament. In the preliminary round, Egypt played five matches, losing three and won two. Egypt was beaten by Serbia 30-22, Norway 20-30 and Denmark 17-26. The national team's two victories were against Saudi Arabia 26-18 and Brazil 25-22. Accordingly, Egypt failed to make it to the second round and had to play the consolation tournament's President's Cup in which Egypt was humiliated in front of Algeria 22-28, but then beat Tunisia 31-30 and the former world champions Russia 31- 27. In the placement match for the 13th/14th place, Egypt lost 24- 28 to Spain. The result showed the modest performance of the Egyptian national team which was in the top 10 for a decade starting from 1995. Egypt's reached its highest career rank in 2001 when the team became the first non-European team to reach the semi- finals. With a wave of excitement coming from the fans and sweeping over the team, Egypt sensationally progressed to the semi-finals to end up fourth in the final ranking, an unprecedented achievement for any Egyptian, African and Arab team on the international level and which has not been emulated by any other so far. But then the slide began. The Egyptians only came off 15th in 2003 in Portugal, 14th in 2005 and 17th at the 2007 World Championship in Germany following two preliminary round defeats and ended up 12th and last at the 2008 Olympics. "It wasn't the defeat or the results that disappointed us, but the performance itself. The team was lost. There was no spirit. The players did nothing to show any kind of fighting spirit. They were lazy, careless, distracted and reluctant. They only produced lacklustre performances that disappointed us all," said Hadi Fahmi, president of the Egyptian Handball Federation. Just days before the new year, Fahmi came into office as the new chairman of the federation, succeeding the former president Egyptian Hassan Mustafa who had been president for the past eight years. "We can say it is not the fault of this new board of directors because we have already received the team this way. Still we didn't expect them to perform with such embarrassment. There was no effort at all," Fahmi said. "We met with the team before travelling and promised them incentives and bonuses if they achieved a good result. What I'm sure of is that there are probably problems between the coach Irfan Smajalec and the players. It has been clear that they were not on good terms and I felt it when I was there. "We didn't choose this coach and his contract expires in 2011. However, we will meet with him and discuss the result of the team and then we'll decide whether to sack him, or he might resign. We'll see how it goes. In case he quits, we'll have to think of another option. There is a possibility of bring back a national coach. "Now that the tournament has ended, we plan to carry out an investigation and find out the reasons behind the failure. I can confirm now that some players will be punished and there is no place for those who failed us in this tournament. "I can't say that we'll reform because that will mean that the former board has failed. No one can deny the effort of Dr Hassan Mustafa and his board in reviving handball in Egypt in the past decade. They have made a big name for the Egyptian handball team, a respectable and powerful name. We will just take it from there and continue on the same path. "However, we will call the whole handball family to join us with their thoughts and ideas. We will arrange a big international forum very soon for the good of the game. There will be around 20 experts and we will together set a new vision for Egyptian handball. And I want to stress that there won't be any sole decisions or dictatorship in leading the sport in the coming four years." Fahmi has brought new hopes to players over the age of 32 who were forced to retire. Now, players of that age can continue playing. The door to professionalism has been opened in front of any handball player who wishes to turn pro abroad. It had been limited before. France became world champions for the third time after 1995 and 2001. At the end of a 23-19 thrilling final that was decided in the final stage of the match, they sent hosts Croatia into despair. Croatia lost their second WCh final after 2005. The whole country had prepared for the big party but France were predominant in the end. They had been a tad better than Croatia considering the entire tournament. The match was close until minute 52, as none of the two teams could break into the lead with more than one goal. Tension built gradually. Two excellent set up defence formations left their mark on the match. France profited from great keeper Thierry Omeyer, Daniel Narcisse (six goals) and Michael Guigou (10 goals) whereas Croatia's most striking players were Blazenko Lackovic and Ivan Cupic (six goals). Captain Jerome Fernandez was presented with the WCh trophy by IHF President Hassan Mustafa with his teammates cheering on the podium. A great fighting spirit and a greater will allowed Poland win the bronze medal after beating Denmark 31-23. Denmark failed to take revenge for their semi-final loss to Poland two years ago. Poland's players danced on the court, as nobody could have imagined this medal win before the main round. The All-Star Team of the 2009 tournament comprised of: Goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer (France). Left-wing: Michael Guigou (France). Left-back: Blazenko Lackovic (Croatia). Centre-back: Nikola Karabatic (France). Right-back: Marcin Lijewski (Poland). Right-wing: Ivan Cupic (Croatia). Pivot: Igor Vori (Croatia). Most Valuable Player: Igor Vori. Top Scorer: Kiril Lazarow (Macedonia) The final WCH ranking from 4th to 24th came as follows: Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Serbia, Norway, Slovakia, FYR Macedonia, Korea, Spain, Egypt, Romania, Russia, Tunisia, Argentina, Algeria, Cuba, Brazil, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Australia. International Handball Federation (IHF) President Mustafa spoke of a very good and successful WCh tournament staged in a land of handball enthusiasts. "The people put all their heart into the organisation and made their contribution." The figures of the WCh spoke for themselves: media coverage was assured by 1,568 journalists and broadcast to 150 countries. More than 400,000 spectators poured into the halls to watch the matches, according to Sandi Sola, president of the Croatian Handball Federation, corresponding to 90 per cent full capacity. Mustafa underlined that "traditional" handball nations had returned to their forte such as Romania and Serbia. "Newcomer countries like Slovakia or Macedonia also presented themselves in excellent shape. I share the joy with those teams about their fine play," Mustafa stated. He also pointed out the many close matches staged during the tournament, which had been a real thrill until the final whistle. "This favours the development of handball; capturing TV viewers in particular. "Fifty-four doping tests were executed until the final match day. All of them were negative. Another six were executed on the final match day," Mustafa reported, underlining that the IHF was in full compliance with the WADA Code to fight doping. Mustafa also gave a positive statement about the referee performance. "Like the teams of Sweden and Germany, global refereeing went through a change. Our programme targeted at young hopefuls has paid off. I am quite satisfied with the referees' performance here in Croatia." Tor Lian, president of the European Handball Federation (EHF), also praised the work of the WCh host. "We have been the guest of a country that shows great enthusiasm for our sport. From the European point of view we are proud of this development." His thanks also went to the 10,000 volunteers for their great efforts during the WCh. Sweden is next in line to arrange the world championship. The hosts are on their toes to prepare the best championship ever. "The world championship in 2011 is going to be an international celebration and a once in a lifetime experience for everyone", says Hans Vestberg, president of the Swedish Handball Federation.
