BRIEF REPORT ON THE INDIAN WHEELCHAIR HANDBALL TEAM’S PERFORMANCE 18 TO 20 NOV 2022

BRIEF REPORT ON THE INDIAN WHEELCHAIR

HANDBALL TEAM’S PERFORMANCE AT PORTUGAL

FOR THE 6-A-SIDE WORLD AND EUROPEAN WHEELCHAIR

HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
(18 TO 20 NOV 2022 - LIERIA, PORTUGAL)

1.   The International Handball Federation (IHF) had invited India (the only team from Asia) to participate in the first ever Four-a-side Wheelchair Handball Championships being held at Cairo, Egypt from 22 to 25 Sep 2022. The Indian team’s praiseworthy performance at Cairo led to the IHF once again inviting the Indian Team to Portugal for the six-a-side World and European Wheelchair Handball Championships at Lieria, Portugal, from 18 to 20 Nov 2022.

2.   India and Pakistan were the two teams from Asia invited for the Championships at Lieria. The Pakistan team were disqualified, as they could not field the mandatory number of men and women players. However, as a goodwill gesture, the Pakistan team were allowed to participate in the Championship.

3.   The Indian team players had only about 15 days practice in Sep 2022 and the wonderful experience of playing at Cairo, before the team left for Portugal on 16 Nov 2022. Once again, the players who participated at Cairo rose to the occasion and with a few new players took up the challenge.

4.  The main sponsors for the Championships at Portugal were Phoenix Sports, INNER WHEEL, VENTURA SECURITIES and SHIVA GULVADY. The officials of the Handball Association and the Wheelchair Handball players will remain ever grateful to the sponsors for making a positive change in the lives of our wheelchair players and making them highly motivated and confident citizens of India.

5.   The Indian team arrived in Portugal on 16 Nov 2022. The following represented India:-

1.  Ramesh Shanmugham - 4.0 - Captain.
2.  Koteshwar Rathod - 4.0 - Goalkeeper.
3.  Javed Choudhari - 4.0.
4.  Rajendra Singh - 4.0.
5.  Somnath Jadhav - 3.0 - Goalkeeper.
6.  Ms Reena Gupta - 3.0.
7.  Ajith Shukla - 2.0.
8.  Latief Bhat - 2.0.
9.  Anil Kachhi - 2.0.
10.  Ms Minakshi Jadhav - 2.0.
11.  Ms Nisha Gupta - 2.0.
12.  Suresh Karki - 1.0.

      Head Coach - Anand Mane.

      Assistant Coach - Captain Louis George.

      Manager - Ajith Gomes.

6.  Seven countries from Europe - Portugal, Netherlands, Romania, Norway, Spain, Hungary, Croatia and two from Asia - India & Pakistan participated in the Championships.

7.   Teams were divided into two pools as under :-

Pool ‘A’ - Norway, Spain, Croatia, Hungary and Pakistan.

Pool ‘B’ - Portugal, India, Netherlands and Romania.

8.   The starting line-up consisted of 3 x 4.0 players, 2 x 2.0 players (including one woman) and one 1.0 player (total points allowed = 17).

9.   In the Pool ‘B’ league matches, India beat Romania 9-5, beat Netherlands 8-6 and lost to Portugal 13-18.

10. Pool Positions were as under:-

Pool ‘A’: A1-Norway, A2-Spain, A3-Croatia, A4-Hungary and A5- Pakistan.

Pool ‘B’: B1-Portugal, B2-India, B3-Netherlands and B4-Romania.

11. Norway and Portugal were seeded directly to semifinals being the respective Pool winners. 

12. In the crossover match, India (B2) beat Croatia (A3) 13-11 in penalty shootout after drawing the match 10-10 in regulation time. Netherlands (B3) beat Spain (A2) in the other crossover match. The Indian Team’s performance was superb, as Croatia was one of the best teams in Europe.

13. In the semifinals, India lost to Portugal 23-11. In the 3rd and 4th place match, India lost to Norway after leading 8-2 at half time. India lost in the penalty shootout after the game was tied at 11-11. The final Score was 15 -14 in favour of Norway. Once again, the Indian Team’s performance was praised by IHF as well as all the spectators in the Stadium at Lieria.

14. India’s performance in brief. In the Pool matches, India played extremely well against Romania and Netherlands. However, the team lost to Portugal in the league match due to erratic shooting by our players. The team played exceptionally well in the crossover match with Croatia.

For the 3rd and 4th place also, the team played their hearts out with Norway. In the first half, the Indian Team took a commanding lead of 6 goals. However, our main shooters could score only 3 goals in the second half as against 9 goals by Norway. Thus, India missed a World Championship Bronze Medal by the narrowest of margins. Hard Luck, India. Better Luck next time India.

Overall, the performance of the Indian Team was outstanding. A team that was hurriedly assembled in Sep 2022 and with practice of only about 15 days total, took part in two World Championships (at Cairo and in Portugal) and performed in an exemplary manner in both the Championships.

15. The contributions by our sponsors Phoenix Sports, INNER WHEEL, VENTURA SECURITIES and SHIVA GULVADY need special mention, as without their timely support, the Indian Team could not have participated in Portugal.

16. It is important to mention here that India’s stellar performance has been noticed by the IHF and future invitations to International Wheelchair Handball matches in 2023 are highly likely.

17. Photographs are in image gallery under " PORTUGAL AND EUROPEAN WHEELCHAIR HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS"