New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS): Uzbekistan came from behind to beat Chinese Taipei to claim fifth place in the sixth Asian Women's Youth Handball Championship at the IGI Stadium here on Wednesday and thus qualify for the World Youth Handball Championship.
Since the top four teams have had already got tickets for the global meet, it was do-and-die situation for both Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei to clinch the last place in fray for the world tournament. The top-five teams in this tournament will be eligible to play in the upcoming world meet.
It was the team from central Asia that surged ahead in the opening five minutes, but in the last two minutes of the first session, Chinese Taipei took control of the game and were leading by a slender margin of one point (11-10) at the break.
The last ten minutes of the second half in fact proved to be turning point for Uzbekistan as they gained the upper hand and were leading by two points (18-16). At this crucial juncture, Uzbekistan went all out and had to dig deep into their reserve to tighten their grip.
Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, slightly fell off the pace, which allowed Uzbekistan to run away with the day's honour with the final score reading 22-20 in their favour.