By Daniel Leussink and Shrivathsa Sridhar
TOKYO (Reuters) – Spain claimed the bronze medal in Olympic men’s handball for the fourth time in their history with a 33-31 win over Egypt at the Tokyo Games on Saturday.
The two sides battled each other in a close fight at the Yoyogi National Stadium before Spain pulled ahead to lead 19-16 at halftime as they missed fewer chances and played more effectively than their opponents.
Egypt, who were the first non-European team to play for an Olympic medal since South Korea earned silver at the 1988 Games, stepped up the pace after the break, closing the three-point gap.
The teams were then locked in a tense showdown, until Spain took a two-goal lead at 30-28 with less than five minutes to go, which proved too big a gap for the ‘Pharaohs’ to bridge.
Spain, who also won bronze at the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Games, retained their lead as they secured a 33-31 victory.
(Reporting by Daniel Leussink in Tokyo and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
