IHF Men’s U17 World Championship:
Iran off to losing start against Germany
Iran got off to a losing start at the inaugural Men’s U17 Handball World Championship in Casablanca, Morrocco, suffering a 45-20 against Germany in Group C on Friday.
German Can Akkoc delivered a player-of-the-match performance, while Kalle Gaugisch and Julius Eisend contributed with six goals apiece for the European powerhouse.
Mohsen Hadizadeh topped the scoring for Iran with five goals, with Amirhossein Samarbakhsh finishing on four.
Germany was the favorite before the contest, however the European team was missing two key players, but that was nowhere to be seen, as it dominated the match against the Asian champion.
Iranians were coming with big ambitions in this competition, especially as they were crowned Asian champions last month, but they failed to contain Germany, which used the entirety of its roster, with all outfield players scoring at least one goal.
By half-time, Germany was up 19-10, but still missed a lot of chances, with the shooting efficiency drastically improving in the second half, when the European side upped the ante and had its overall efficiency up to 66%.
Gaugisch and Eisend scored almost one goal per minute in the second period to help Germany jump to an eventual 45-20 win, the second-largest in the competition so far.
Elsewhere in the group, Agustin Refojos scored seven goals to steer Argentina to a 43-25 victory over Puerto Rico.
Iranian boys will face Argentina in their second outing on Sunday, before taking on Puerto Rico two days later at the Nouacer Hall.
The winner of the three group will secure a place in the semifinals of the 12-team tournament, with the second teams hoping to progress to the last four as the best runner-up.