On 15 December, the two quarter-final matches of the World Championship in Spain were played. Norway beat Russia, while France triumphed against Sweden, so the semi-finals between Norway and Spain and France and Denmark will be played on Friday, December 17.
Norway met Team Russia in the first semi-final, where Solberg and her team built up a four-goal lead (19 - 15) by half-time. In the second half, the gap between the two teams widened further, and in a less exciting match, Norway won to 34 - 28. Kari Brattset Dale scored five goals, Stine Oftedal 4 and Veronica Kristiansen 3 in the meeting. Norway will play the hosts Spain in the semi-finals on Friday.
France beat Sweden to reach the semi-finals. The scoreboard showed a 15 - 15 draw in the first half, but in the second half Sweden could not cope with the Olympic champions and Nze Minko's team won to 31 - 26. The best player of the match was Linn Blohm, who scored six goals. The French national team will face Denmark for a place in the final.
The 25th Women's Handball World Championship has a day off on 16 December. The tournament continues with the two semi-finals on Friday, 17 December.
The semi-final pairings are:
17:30 France vs Denmark
20:30 Norway vs Spain
Source of photo: IHF
