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