BAKU: Pakistan and Azerbaijan ended their campaign in handball on a positive note in the Islamic Solidarity Games , as both the sides won their respective games on Friday .
Azerbaijan defeated Morocco 31-25 to secure fifth place while Pakistan overcame Jordan 33-31 to take seventh.
Pakistan looked fresh and, thanks to Hazrat Hussain’s ten goals, convincingly beat Jordan 33-31, after going into the break with a four point lead (18-14). Pakistan Jordan battled hard as experienced Ahmad Almousa’s 10 goals and keeper Khaled Ali’s saves kept the side in the game at 32-31 after 59 minutes.
But it proved to be not enough as Pakistan’s chalked up its first and only win of the tournament.
In the semi-finals on Saturday, 2005 silver medalists Saudi Arabia lock horns with Iraq while Turkey, another nation widely tipped to progress to the latter stages, take on Algeria.
