Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18

[Hondje]

Hi guys, After having seen a couple of shoot-outs on day 1, all the favourtites apart from Korea seems to have settled themselves, although it has to be said that the level of opposition was rather limited in a couple of the matches. As such championship newbies from Australia was taught a lesson by Hungary (7-59) and Uruguay fell behind by 0-11 against Russia in the space of 7.30 mins and eventually lost 16-43. Although its hard to give an adequate estimation of where they all stand I will try my luck with a quick round-up of the favourites and a few comments to a couple of other teams that surprised me one way or the other: Russia: The Russians got the expected victory against a totally outclassed Uruguay and opened their tournament in proper fashion. Natalia Shipolova and Emilia Turay were the dominant figures on the score-sheet but as Russia was never pushed to its limit, its difficult to gather anything from this match at all. Interestingly, Russia have not had the easiest of draws, since they are in by far the most difficult of the two halves, and traditionally they really struggle with Korea whom they are likely to play in the main round, competing with amongst others Norway and Hungary for two places in the semi finals. Tough prospect, but home field advantage and a very classy and gifted squad should see them through at least to the semis...! Prediction: Likely finalists! Korea: Korea was the huge negative surprise on day 1, as they went down 35-42 to Slovenia in a proper shoot-out. Both defenses showed a shocking display, and whereas its not surprising that Korea is capable of making 35 on the board in the space of 60 minutes, its a big surprise to see them let in 42 at the other end. The vulnerability in defense seems far too big for the Koreans to get sorted out before the main round, to where they will qualify on pure class. They might also be able to throw in an upset or two for some of the favourites but the stability and defensive organisation is not at a level suitable for the coming World Champions... Prediction: 5-6th place Denmark: After a very hesitant first half, Denmark found their rythm after the break and showed why they are mentioned amongst the favourites to the title. Almost all players and in particular Touray, Sjøberg and Wangsøe found their feet, and taught the chanceless brasilians a big lesson in the last 30 minutes. This team will grow stronger and stronger as the tournament progresses and I would be very surprised not to see them reach at least a semi-final considering the fortunate draw.The only worry is in goal, where first choice Karin Mortensen is suffering from a painful back that kept her out against Brazil and also will sideline her on Tuesday night. Coach Pytlick surprisingly decided to travel to Russia with only 2 keepers on the team sheet, one of which is now doubtful and without the possibility of adding to a full 16-woman squad, Denmark is vulnerable to injuries on the keeper position. However, Rikke Poulsen-Schmidt on her good days is more than capable of taking over, so until proven otherwise I would not put this down as a real worry to the teams chances. Prediction: Likely to reach the semi's Norway: Norway struggled with Aficas best bid from Angola last night but eventually overcame the African women by 36-30. A rusty start, however that has been seen many times before from Marit Breviks team, which have a way of growing better and stronger as the tournament progresses. Got a heavy beating by Denmark in the last warm-up and still have some fine-tuning to do following the injuries to captain Gro Hammerseng and Katja Nyberg and with other injuries to Linn-Kristin Riegehuth and left back Vigdis Hårsaker, there is every need for the traditional width in the Norwegian squad. The team is based around a strong defense giving them plenty of opportunities to cash in on the easy goals from a world class counter attacks unit. This will cause a big worry to every opponent. There is still plenty of capability with players like Kari-Mette Johansen, Katrine Lunde, Marianne Rokne og Anette Hovind. Prediction: Likely semi-finalist Romania: Personally I think that Romania could be the team to follow Denmark through to the semi-finals from Main Round Group 2. They got away with a convincing win from their first outing against Argentina (31-15) and its about time that the team around un-disputed star Carmen Lungu starts performing at the top level. The preparations have been impressive (held Denmark to a draw in Denmark), the draw has been fortunate, the teams seems solid and without any major injury concerns and I would expect them to compete with Germany to follow through with Denmark as the last of the four semi-finalists. Prediction: Probable semi-finalist Germany: Germanys win over Poland (33-21) was not a big surprise, but what was surprising was the size of the victory and the ease with which which it came about. The fact that Grit Jurack is deadly from distance and that Nadine Krause has an excellent way of setting up both the line-players and the wingers is well proven but a German squad with a lot of flow, technical and tactical ability spiced up with the brilliance from a couple of super stars will put Germany in with a strong shout for the semis if they can maintain the level throughout. Against the Ferman chances speaks the fact that the team has yet to prove greatness throughout the entirity of a tournament, and that is the main reason why I think they will ultimately fall short to Romania in the hunt for the semis.... Prediction: 5-6thplace. Holland: The Dutch surprised most people with a win against Croatia (29-27) in the opener, but in fairness the development in Dutch handball in recent years has been phenomenal. Several of the most important players play in the strong Danish league, and the organisation behind the team seems strengthned compared with recent years. They miss world class line player Olga Assink and also Monique Feijen is sidelined with a long-term injury so a lot of responsability is on the shoulders of Natasja Burgers and Pearl van der Wissel. In the qualification Holland saw off Spain over two matches and that results proves the ability of a young and up-coming team which will be in with a big shout for years to come once they get their injured players fit and ready. The injuries along with the very tricky draw means that the main round will be the end for the Dutch, but look out for the odd up-set. Prediction: 7th or 8th Slovenia Many people would probably scream and shout if I left out Slovenia here after their impressive win against South Korea, but the truth of the matter is that its the same old story with the players from Krim Ljubljana, the leading club team in Slovenia, which is basically identical to the national team: They only have about 8 or 9 players able to compete at this level so early in the tournament they will be a threat to anybody, whereas in he middle round against stronger opponents with wider squads they will struggle severely. This has been the case at the last 4-5 major tournaments and as the players are approaching I could see them finish behind Holland even in spite of the impressive display from yesterday, which just might be enough to see them squeeze into the main round! Happy hunting for the out-right betting guys, I will follow this up with small day-by-day write ups on some of the more interesting matches... Cheers, Hondje

[Sir Puntalot]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Great post Hondje, I know nothing about handball to be honest but some great info there. :ok

[Tulenos]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 :clap Hondje - looking forward to match betting alrrady;)

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Day 2, December 6th: Cameroon - Romania (-13.5): Romania impressed me on day 1, and after having eased past Argentina they will be looking to get their back-line into gear which will be at the despence of poor Cameroon. I was expecting the line to be closer to 18 here, so definate value for me in the experienced Romanians. Recommendation: Romania to win by 14 or more: 8/10 Australia - Slovenia (-33.5): As its still early in the tournament, Slovenia will have no fitness- or injury worries. Australia haven't got any business whatsoever at this tournament other than to leran and they will take some heavy hevy beating doing it. Yesterday they lost by the ridiculous score-line 57-9 to Hungary, and at the present time in the tournament I would rate Slovenia slightly above them. 33.5 goals Hcap is a lot, but rightfully it reflects the ability (or lack thereof) of the Australians. As RugbyLad rightfully pointed out another good opportunity could be the HT Hcap of 16.5, but I am confident that Deja Doler and co will ease through with a victory of about 40 goals at least. Recommendations: Slovenia to win by 34 or more: 7/10 Slovenia to lead by 17 or more at half time: 7/10

[Tulenos]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Where is the -13.5 'cap available, Hondje? - -15.5 @ BDQ, -14.5 @ Sportbet. The other cap is available @ BDQ @ 1.91;)

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Got 13.5 with Nordicbet, Tulenos ;-)

[Tulenos]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Thx;)

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Good luck with your Slovinia bet Hondje:ok The handicap is a bit to big for me, 33 goal is an awefull lot. I took Hungary -24 yesterday, and was a bit surprised that they was 22 up by half time. I will cheer on the Balcan girls for you

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Cheers everyone! Hopefully we will all be able to make a decent profit, not a bad start anyway: Cameroun 2 - 7 Romania, after 10 mins

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Not as lot of time, but: FYRO Macedonia - Ukraine (-2.5): 2 Ukraine has a better team, pure and simple...

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Germany (-3.5) - Austria: 1 Germany has a number of threats not only from the back-line but also on line- and wing-positions, whereas too much depends on Tania Logvin in the Austrian outfit. These two teams usually end up playing each other in the big champinships with the Germans ending up on top more often than not - last time by 6 goals (29-23) against an Austrian team that included Öffenbech, Strass and Friederikas - none of them are playing here... Germany to beat Austria by 4 goals or more 8/10

[Bamse81]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Have to join in and say: Great job Hondje! Top notch :ok

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Ivory Coast (+17) - Denmark: 1 I have really been scratching my head with this one, already when the line was 15.5. The Africans have caused Denmark trouble before (could easily have beat us in the last World Championships where only a solid display from keeper Rikke Poulsen-Schmidt saw Denmark ease through to the expected victory in the second half. Denmark did many things right in the second half last night, against Brasil, but has yet to prove the consistency throughout the entirety of a match. Furthermore, the leading top goalscorer Josefine Touray has been benched for tonights game and there seems to be a tendency towards teams not convering the big handicaps. Lastly, an important point is that Denmark doesnt have to give 100% here. As such they will only carry over points gained against teams who are joining them in the Main Round and with every possible guarantess Ivory Coast will not get that far. Since the line has now moved to 17, with the price maintained at 1.95 with NB, clear value for me. Recommendation: Ivory Coast not to lose by more than 17 against Denmark. (8/10

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Hmm, a bit up and down today, as Romania and Germany turned out to be nice bankers on the handicap, whereas Ukraine let me down badly and The Ivory Coast made a real mess of things against Denmark, attempting a very interesting and courageous all-out-attack -and-lets-try-and-stick-with-their-tempo-in-spite-of-them-being-favourites-for-the-title philosophy... Rather amusing but also equally doubtful from a tactical point of view and actually the 21 deficit scoreline was rather generous on the Africans. Looking ahead to tomorrow, no prices are out anywhere, but a few games interest me, and on first glance, I would put the handicap at the following: Ukraine - Romania (4.5-0) Hungary - Slovenia (2.5-0) Poland - Austria (1.5-0) Russia - Netherlands (0-8.5) Brazil - Ivory Coast (0-9.5) Denmark - Germany (0-1.5) At first glance, the following teams are tempting me: Romania, Netherlands, Brazil and Germany. I will elaborate tomorrow when more info is available.

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 One stand out to me so fare. Brazil to cover the -9 handicap at 1.80 Scandicbookmaker. What on earth are the Ivory Coast doing in a World Cup ? it is a joke that these teams can qualify for this fine tournament. If the danes had been more concentratet when finishing, they could have won it by 30 instead of the 21 they won by. I know Brazil aint at Denmarks level at all, but Brazil have a half decent handball team. Now and then they pull of good results against the better nations, and they shocked Denmark the other night by leading with 1 goal at HT. They also beat Poland by 3 yesterday, witch deserves respect, as they where expectet to be a positive experience this year. Against Denmark they run out of gas in the 2. half, and the Danes saw them pretty easy off from that point. But against Ivory Coast, Brazil will control the game tempo for the hole match. Easy win for me here.

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Fully agree with the Brazil-pick, Rumlesen, dont have must to add - its two completely different sets of standard, and Brazil shouldn't struggle with covering the 10... (8/10) Romania -2.5 will be my big bet of the day. I was expecting the line to be about twice this figure, Ukraine are still struggling with a number of 'child-deceases', whereas Romania are in with the biggest shout for a number of years. (10/10) Japan -20 seems very very high to me. Uruguay will lose the match, but held Holland to 21, and Japan are nowhere near that standard. (7/10) Slovenia +1.5 is an option against Hungary, but admittetly the match will be equal and is likely to be decided in the space of the last 5 minutes - could obviously tip either way, but I personally hold Slovenia as narrow favourites and with the 1.5 goal start and available at 1.90 at Nordicbet, I am siding with them. (5/10) Cameroon +19.5 is an option, due to France's recent huge slip in form. Furthermore there is a lot of cultural twist to this match which the africans likely will see as their 'world cup final' due to the history between the two nations. On fight and spirit, I would expect the Africans to be able to keep it closer to 15 against a disarmed French side which is far from the standard of recent years. (5/10) Fially Germany at HT deserves a shout. The Germans have started the tournament in proper and impressive fashion, and have played 2 'real' matches already, whereas the Danes have only met second hand opposition. Therefore I would expect a revitalised Germany to start a gear or two higher than the Danes who are often slow starters (proven against Brazil two days ago). Not too sure about the FT, but Germany at the half seems an excellent pick. (8/10)

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 I cannot bet at Nordicbet anymore, but for those who can, i found a great bet. Brazil to score 3 goals first should be and easy one imo. They did it against Denmark and Poland, teams of much much higher standard than Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast did not manage to get first to 3 goals in any of their games. 1.60 Is a great deal i think.

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 I have taken Romania -2.5 and and Uruguay +20 too. Very very big handicap for Uruguay here. Good spot Hondje. Good luck today:ok

[Bamse81]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 I found a decent bet today... Uruguay only scored 13 and 9 goals in the two games theyve played so far. Japan have scored many goals against better opponents than Uruguay but I think that Japan will take it a bit easy this game. Theory is that they work much harder against better resistance. I think it will be hard to find focus here against a weaker opponent. OK, Uruguay can score 15 perhaps but then again Japan have to score 39 goals for me to lose this bet. I simply dont think they need to go that high. Any views on this from our experts? ;) Japan-Uruguay under 53.5 @ 1.85 Nordicbet. Lycka till idag! :hope

[davidmphill]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Good luck here with your tips guys. To be honest I've never seen a game of handball! It's not the sort of game that gets played in schools in North Wales!

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Hmm cannot remember i have ever heard of a British handball team:lol you should try and watch a topgame once, i can be quit entertaining

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Rumania win by 3:ok

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Uruguay bet lost by 2:sad

[Bamse81]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Hehehe.. that was probably my first and last bet on womens handball. Looked so good, Japan didnt score more than 30 during the last championship and now they score 44?! If you need me i´ll be in the hockey dungeon..

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Brazil leads 5-2. The first to 3 bet won. Hope somebody got it:ok

[Rumlesen]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Brazil only won by 8:sad

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 bad luck Bamse and Rumlesen with Brazil and Uruguay... At least Romania, Slovenia and Germany at HT are looking rather secure, which will secure me a decent profit for the day ;-) Tomorrow is a new day - with new opportunities :-)

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Right, after a well deserved days rest, its time for the last two rounds in the preliminary group phase. First though, lets have a look at the tables and the matches played so far: Group A:

Plac.	Hold	K	V	U	T	Mf-Mi	+/-	P
1	Rusland	3	3	0	0	113-58	55	6
2	Holland	3	2	0	1	80-69	11	4
3	Kroatien	3	2	0	1	93-88	5	4
4	Kina	3	1	0	2	82-98	-16	2
5	Japan	3	1	0	2	101-86	15	2
6	Uruguay	3	0	0	3	46-116	-70	0

Dato / Tid	Hjemme	Resultat	Ude
19:00 07-12-2005	Kina	29-35	Kroatien
17:00 07-12-2005	Rusland	34-22	Holland
15:00 07-12-2005	Japan	44-22	Uruguay
19:00 06-12-2005	Kroatien	31-30	Japan
17:00 06-12-2005	Kina	20-36	Rusland
15:00 06-12-2005	Uruguay	8-29	Holland
19:00 05-12-2005	Japan	27-33	Kina
17:00 05-12-2005	Rusland	43-16	Uruguay
14:00 05-12-2005	Holland	29-27	Kroatien

Group B:

Plac.	Hold	K	V	U	T	Mf-Mi	+/-	P
1	Ungarn	3	2	1	0	118-66	52	5
2	Slovenien	3	2	1	0	110-75	35	5
3	Sydkorea	3	2	0	1	100-99	1	4
4	Norge	3	2	0	1	108-70	38	4
5	Angola	3	0	0	3	92-105	-13	0
6	Australien	3	0	0	3	32-145	-113	0

Dato / Tid	Hjemme	Resultat	Ude
19:10 07-12-2005	Norge	47-10	Australien
17:00 07-12-2005	Angola	32-35	Sydkorea
15:00 07-12-2005	Ungarn	27-27	Slovenien
19:10 06-12-2005	Sydkorea	30-25	Norge
17:00 06-12-2005	Angola	30-34	Ungarn
15:00 06-12-2005	Australien	13-41	Slovenien
19:00 05-12-2005	Norge	36-30	Angola
17:00 05-12-2005	Slovenien	42-35	Sydkorea
15:00 05-12-2005	Ungarn	57-9	Australien

Group C:

Plac.	Hold	K	V	U	T	Mf-Mi	+/-	P
1	Danmark	3	3	0	0	100-69	31	6
2	Tyskland	3	2	0	1	93-75	18	4
3	Østrig	3	2	0	1	87-80	7	4
4	Brasilien	3	2	0	1	90-88	2	4
5	Polen	3	0	0	3	77-95	-18	0
6	Elfenbenskysten	3	0	0	3	68-108	-40	0

Dato / Tid	Hjemme	Resultat	Ude
19:00 07-12-2005	Danmark	27-26	Tyskland
17:00 07-12-2005	Brasilien	34-26	Elfenbenskysten
15:00 07-12-2005	Polen	25-28	Østrig
19:00 06-12-2005	Elfenbenskysten	21-42	Danmark
17:00 06-12-2005	Tyskland	34-27	Østrig
15:00 06-12-2005	Brasilien	34-31	Polen
19:00 05-12-2005	Danmark	31-22	Brasilien
17:00 05-12-2005	Polen	21-33	Tyskland
15:00 05-12-2005	Østrig	32-21	Elfenbenskysten
15:00 09-12-2005	Polen	-	Elfenbenskysten
17:00 09-12-2005	Tyskland	-	Brasilien
19:00 09-12-2005	Østrig	-	Danmark
15:00 10-12-2005	Østrig	-	Brasilien
17:00 10-12-2005	Elfenbenskysten	-	Tyskland
19:00 10-12-2005	Danmark	-	Polen

Group D:

Plac.	Hold	K	V	U	T	Mf-Mi	+/-	P
1	Rumænien	3	3	0	0	111-61	50	6
2	Frankrig	3	3	0	0	91-50	41	6
3	Makedonien	3	1	1	1	83-69	14	3
4	Ukraine	3	1	1	1	90-82	8	3
5	Argentina	3	0	0	3	41-96	-55	0
6	Cameroun	3	0	0	3	59-117	-58	0

Dato / Tid	Hjemme	Resultat	Ude
18:30 07-12-2005	Frankrig	33-17	Cameroun
16:30 07-12-2005	Makedonien	32-15	Argentina
14:30 07-12-2005	Ukraine	27-30	Rumænien
18:30 06-12-2005	Argentina	11-33	Frankrig
16:30 06-12-2005	Makedonien	29-29	Ukraine
14:30 06-12-2005	Cameroun	19-50	Rumænien
18:30 05-12-2005	Frankrig	25-22	Makedonien
16:30 05-12-2005	Rumænien	31-15	Argentina
14:30 05-12-2005	Ukraine	34-23	Cameroun

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Hmm, not too sure what happened in the thread above, sorry guys :-) Anyway, hope the info is still accessible for everyone, otherwise they can all be found through: http://sportsresultater.tv2.dk/vmq05/index.php?g=hb&stats=true&tp=all&lid=102 (different groups available through the scroller-menu) The site is in Danish, but it should still make a decent bit of sense to everyone, hopefully...

[Hondje]

Re: Handball - Womens World Championships Dec 5-18 Anyway, on to the picks of today: First off, the Angola-Australia match interests me. The total goal line is set to 56.5, which is interesting considering that Angola in all of their first three matches against the three teams likely to top the group, have scored 30, 30 and 32 goals in the match. Only problem is that their defense is as good as non-existing, so they have let in 35, 34 and 36 goals per match. Obviously Australia won't come that high, but I dont see it that unlikely that Australia will make the 17-18 goal mark, and then Angola will only need 40 to cover. If we disregard matches with teams against 'opponents that cant play handball (ie matches ending 57-9), Angola has one of the highest scoring averages of the tournament, and that against as strong opposition as Korea, Hungary and Norway. They will come close to 50 here so I cant see the over 56.5 total goals being in any danger - Let me know what you think, guys!? Recommendation: Angola - Australia over 56.5 goals 8/10