India misses bronze at 1st World & European Six-a-Side Wheelchair Handball Championship
20 November 2022
The 1st World & European Six-a-Side Wheelchair Handball Championship concluded today in Portugal, with host Portugal claiming the title after defeating the Netherlands by 18–10 in the final. The competition was organised across the following two venues in Leiria, Portugal, from 18 to 20 November 2022:
- Pavilhão do Lis, Leiria
- Pavilhão Desportivo dos Pousos, Leiria
Seven countries from Europe and two from Asia competed for the title at the competition. Asia was represented by two South Asian neighbors, i.e., Pakistan and India.
The participating nations were divided into two preliminary groups. Pakistan was drawn in Group A along with Croatia, Hungary, Norway, and Spain, while India was drawn in Group B along with host Portugal, the Netherlands, and Romania.
Pakistan entered the competition with only nine players (two women) instead of the required twelve players (three women). Not meeting the requirement, the competition management decided that Pakistan could participate in the championship but without any official ranking. All matches played by the Pakistan national team were counted as 0:10 wins and 0:2 points for the opponents.
The results for India in the preliminary group were as follows:
- India vs Romania 9–5
- India vs Netherlands 8–6
- India vs Portugal 13–18
In the cross-match, which acts as the qualification match for the semi-finals, India defeated Croatia by 13–11 after the penalties, as the match finished in a draw at 10–10 after full time.
India lost 23–11 to hosts Portugal in the semi-finals. In the bronze medal match, Norway bounced back from trailing 8–2 at the break against India, with the game ending in a tie (11–11) after 40 minutes. The Scandinavian side won the ensuing penalty shootout. The 15–14 victory gave Norway its first ever medal in international competition.
India finished in 4th position at the competition out of a total of 9 participating teams.
Final Ranking:
- Portugal
- Netherlands
- Norway
- India
- Spain
- Croatia
- Hungary
- Romania
- Pakistan
Photo Courtesy: International Handball Federation
