The second day of the World Championship in Spain has finished. The Hungarian women's handball team won by six goals against Slovakia in the first round. Denmark beat Tunisia easily, while South Korea romped past Congo. On 3 December, France, Norway, Sweden and Romania will also take to the pitch with Győr's players.
Our women's handball team, led by Vladimir Golovin, started their World Championship campaign with a victory. In the first half the scoreboard showed a 16 - 16 draw, but in the second half our national team shook itself off and finally won by six goals, to 35 - 29. Noémi Háfra scored 7 goals and Viktória Lukács scored 1 goal.
After the match, Csenge Fodor gave her assessment:
"I am very happy that we started the tournament with a win. It was a special pleasure to play in the match, it was a bit strange to wake up in Győr in the morning and play in the World Championship in the evening. It was a typical first match, we still have room for improvement, but we will continue to work towards our goals." - said our left wing.
South Korea started the tournament against Congo. The African team fell behind early on in the encounter and eventually the Koreans won 37 - 23, with Ryu Eun Hee contributing with three goals. After the match, we asked our player about the match.
"I felt very good in the match. The team played well together and I'm happy that I was able to help my teammates both on defense and offense." - Ryu Eun Hee said.
In the other Group F match, Denmark recorded a knockout win against Tunisia. Anne Mette Hansen and her team decided the fate of the two points in the first half (16 - 8) and the Danes won 34 - 16. Our team captain scored five goals in the match, and this is how she assessed the match:
"We knew it needs to be a win, the tougher matches will probably come for us in the semi-finals. Our success was overshadowed by what looked like a serious injury to our teammate." - said the team captain.
Results of the second day of play:
Germany - Czech Republic 31 - 21
Hungary - Slovakia 35 - 29
Austria - China 38 - 27
South Korea - Congo 37 - 23
Croatia - Brazil 25 - 301
Denmark - Tunisia 34 - 16
Japan - Paraguay 40 – 17
Norway will start their World Cup campaign on 3 December. Stine Oftedal's side will take on Kazakhstan starting at 20:30.
Sweden, with Linn Blohm, will play their first match against Uzbekistan today at 20:30.
Romania, with Crina Pintea in the frame, will take on Iran on 3 December at 18:00.
Olympic champions France will start their World Cup campaign in Group A. Estelle Nze Minko and her team will play against Angola at 18:00 on 3 December.
The programme for the third day:
18:00 Netherlands vs Puerto Rico
18:00 Russia vs Cameroon
20:30 Montenegro vs Slovenia
20:30 Serbia vs Poland
Source of photo: IHF
