France women’s handball athletes celebrate after a win – Credit: Getty Images
The women’s handball tournament continues with the last round of preliminary matches on Saturday. Details from each game of the session are below.
Group B: Netherlands vs. Hungary
It was a complete performance from the Netherlands’ as its attack and defense flexed its muscles in a 30-26 win against Hungary.
Lois Abbingh and Angela Malestein led the Dutch in scoring with seven and six goals, respectively, while goalkeeper Yara Ten Holte impressively saved 40% of the shots taken at her.
On the bright side for Hungary, the result was still enough for the team to advance to the quarterfinals, placing in third place in Group B. Netherlands finished in second and are also advancing.
Group B: Spain vs. France
Host France continued its dominant run in the preliminary round, this time thrashing Spain 32-24.
After taking a commanding eight-goal lead heading into the second half thanks to its free-flowing attack, France was able to cruise to its victory as Alicia Toublanc (six goals) and Pauletta Foppa (five goals) led the team in scoring.
France had already secured its spot in the quarterfinals in the previous preliminary round, while Spain was unable to collect any points as the team remained winless throughout the tournament.
Group B: Brazil vs. Angola
Brazil advanced to the quarterfinals in style after defeating Angola 30-19.
Both teams needed a win to move on to the quarterfinals, but it was Brazil’s quick and lethal attack that propelled the South Americans onto the next round.
Brazil’s defense was also able to limit Angola to only six goals in the first half and 13 in the second as goalkeeper Gabriela Moreschi saved nearly half of the shots thrown at her.
The result eliminated Angola from the tournament.
Group B: Sweden vs. Slovenia
Sweden secured their spot in the quarterfinals with a strong performance Saturday, topping Slovenia 27-23.
It was Sweden’s game to lose, entering the match with three wins already under their belt. After entering halftime trailing Slovenia by three, the Swedish dominated the second half and outscored their opponents by seven to take the win.
The fast attacking Swedish offense overpowered Slovenia, outscoring them in fast break 7-0. Slovenia also had struggles in goal, with Amra Pandzic only able to save 23 percent of Sweden’s shots on goal.
The loss drops the Slovenians to the bottom of Group A, eliminating them from quarterfinals contention.
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