Unlimited fouls push AUB to victory

By Zalfa Feghali ---

Though scheduled to start at 7:30 pm on Tuesday evening, the handball game between the AUB men's handball varsity and the Amlieh Club did not begin until 8:00 pm. Though AUB would ultimately gain the advantage at the end, winning 30-26, their game was disorganized. Having already started the game half an hour late, the AUB team was incomplete. Several players did not attend due to quizzes, final projects, and other commitments. In fact, as Outlook would later discover, the team had not had practice for three weeks prior to the match. Though the Amlieh players launched an impressive offensive in the first half, the AUB team was able to mount a strong defense. Zohrab "Zorro" Keropian arrived fifteen minutes into the first half. Only then were the AUB players able to progress, with Zorro entering into the offensive zone many times in the second half, scoring many points. During the second half, numerous fouls were committed by both sides with little recognition from either of the referees. The fouls resulted in several injuries on both teams, ranging from eye to groin injuries. Munir Abou Shakra was pressing hard through out the game, and in many instances he committed serious fouls. When asked about his opinion of the game, Coach Toufic Chahine seemed extremely disappointed with the AUB team's performance, saying, "The team did not practice for three weeks. Players were missing; I had to put the goalkeeper in to play. Plus my wing player was injured, and Zorro came late." The players on field from the AUB team were: Munir Abou shakra, Munir Akhal, Nader ElShaar, Elie Nasr, Rawad Biayni, Kivork Kartanian, Jad Haydar, and Zohrab Kerpian. From the Amilieh, there was: Jad Badra, Hussain Rizk, Mouhamad Rizk, Ahmad Kanweeny, Mohammad Zay'our, Ali El-Henawi, and Ibrahim Sherry.