Melvyn Richardson of France shoots during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Germany and France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
LILLE, France, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions France suffered a bitter 34-33 overtime defeat to Germany in the Paris 2024 men's handball quarterfinals here on Wednesday, ending the hosts' dream of repeating their feat of double golds at Tokyo 2020, where they had won both men's and women's finals.
"It was a disappointing result for us, it was a close game, we knew we had to be strong against Germany, but unfortunately we did not succeed to win," said France coach Guillaume Gille.
The hosts led 17-14 at halftime and held a 29-27 advantage with one minute to go, only to see Germany's Renars Uscins score a penalty to make it 29-28. After a time-out for France, Uscins stole the ball and scored a last-second goal with a fast break to pull the match level.
The match went into overtime and the two sides were tied at 33-33 with only 15 seconds to go, before Uscins hit a 9-meter decider into the left bottom corner.
Uscins, 22, scored 14 goals, while Dika Mem managed 10 for France.
"I'm really happy that we are in the semifinals. I don't know what happened in the last 70 minutes, but I'm proud of the team because it was a really hard fight. I think we deserved to win even if it is by luck," Uscins said.
Other matches saw Denmark edge Sweden 32-31, Spain overcome Egypt 29-28, and Slovenia beat Norway 33-28. ■
Blaz Janc (C) of Slovenia competes during the men's quarterfinal of handball between Norway and Slovenia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Players of Slovenia celebrate after the men's quarterfinal of handball between Norway and Slovenia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Kristian Bjoernsen of Norway shoots during the men's quarterfinal of handball between Norway and Slovenia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Aleks Vlah (C) of Slovenia competes during the men's quarterfinal of handball between Norway and Slovenia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Emil Jakobsen (top) of Denmark shoots during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Denmark and Sweden at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Felix Claar (top) of Sweden passes the ball during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Denmark and Sweden at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Simon Pytlick (1st L) of Denmark shoots during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Denmark and Sweden at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Simon Pytlick (L, front) of Denmark vies with Karl Wallinius (R front) of Sweden during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Denmark and Sweden at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Renars Uscins (2nd L) of Germany competes during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Germany and France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Hugo Descat of France shoots during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Germany and France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
Aymeric Minne (C) of France passes the ball during the men's quarterfinal match of handball between Germany and France at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Lille, France, on Aug. 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Meng Dingbo)
