Paris end Japan tour with another win
Handball•
Paris Saint-Germain Handball beat Japan’s U21s team (37–29) in their second pre-season match at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on Wednesday 5 August, ending their tour of Japan on a high.
The day after their spectacular victory over Zeekstar Tokyo (41–31), the capital club got right back to work with a second pre-season match, this time against Japan’s U21s. With these two matches in two days, Stefan Madsen’s men had a chance to build up their rhythm, with their sights set on the resumption of competitive action at the end of August. The Danish coach could continue to run the rule over his squad, with the new signings showing plenty of promise.
The young Japanese side were determined to put on a good show against strong opposition, and caused Les Rouge et Bleu a few problems early on (5': 5–4). With four early goals to his name, new signing Bjarki Elisson continued his fine form from the last match, and the Parisians were soon in control against a determined but not always polished side (15': 10–6).
After a fairly successful first quarter of an hour, Stefan Madsen made his first substitutions. Following a fine pass from Noah Gaudin, Kamil Syprzak scored his first goal of the match shortly after coming on, whilst young Djibril Sarre made his professional debut in goal. With Elohim Prandi also opening his account with a trademark powerful shot, Les Rouge et Bleu continued to lead the way (26': 16–12).
Faced with a well-organised and tenacious Japanese side, the Parisians had the lead at half-time, but needed to step up their game to put the game to bed (30': 17–15). After the resumption of play, Wallem Peleka got the ball rolling with two fine goals (34': 19–16), before Sarre saved a seven-metre throw. Still in the lead, Les Rouge et Bleu were not yet out of the woods, and the Japanese U21s continued to give it their all (43': 23–20).
Stefan Madsen’s men eventually built up a lead that seemed insurmountable as the end of the match approached (50': 27–21). With six goals apiece, Yahia Omar and Elisson led the attack, and the Japanese defence crumbled under the relentless pressure from the capital club's stars. Another Parisian signing, Frederik Ladefoged, scored his first of the match (55': 32–24).
The end of the match was marked by two superb goals from Elohim Prandi that rounded off Les Rouge et Bleus' commanding performance (60': 37–29). In their second pre-season match, the team once again played a very attacking game, causing problems for the young Japanese defence. The excellent debut of Bjarki Elisson, who was once again decisive with seven goals, was doubtless a great satisfaction for Stefan Madsen.
Yahia Omar, Bjarki Elisson: seven goals; Elohim Prandi: five, Kamil Syprzak: four, Noah Gaudin: three, Luc Steins, Ferran Solé, Mateo Maras, Wallem Peleka: two, Sebastian Karlsson, Luka Karabatic, Frederik Ladefoged: one. Rodrigo Corrales: four saves, Mikkel Lovkvist, Djibril Sarre: two.
This match marks the end of our players’ tour of Japan, as they will be returning to Europe tomorrow. Then it’s on to the next stage of their pre-season preparations, when they travel to Germany to take on last season’s Champions League runners-up, Füchse Berlin, on Saturday 15 August.
