The Placement Matches of the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship threw off on Thursday, with Sweden and Poland securing top-10 finishes, with wins over Czechia and Romania, while the Chinese Taipei and the USA avoided the last place, with their maiden wins of the competition.

The People’s Republic of China, the hosts, secured a dramatic 25:22 win on penalties against Austria, with goalkeeper Yihan Sun saving three shots.

Placement Matches 9-12
Sweden v Czechia 30:21 (10:13)
Romania v Poland 24:25 (14:15)

Four 3:0 unanswered runs lifted Sweden past Czechia and secured a top-10 for the European side, after a slow start. Czechia led by three goals at the break, 13:10, but then only managed to score eight goals in the second half.

And Sweden duly took advantage, as goalkeeper Anna Danielsson had eight saves for a 47% saving efficiency and Czechia’s attack fell from a cliff, managing only a 45% shooting efficiency.

In four minutes and three seconds, Sweden tied the score, 13:13, then took the lead and never looked back, with Ebba Börjesson and Klara Bergling each scoring six goals, for a clear 30:21 win.

In the Placement Match 9/10, Sweden will face Poland, which beat Romania, 25:24. Romania led in the first part of the match, but a 4:0 unanswered run from Poland saw them take the lead and never look back.

Zuzanna Zimnicka scored 10 goals for Poland, which carefully managed the lead until the end of the match, despite Romania’s top scorer, Teodora Damian, putting nine goals past Poland.

In the Placement Match 9/10, Sweden will face Poland, while Romania play against Czechia for the 11th place.

Placement Matches 13-16
Republic of Korea v Hungary 25:34 (7:17)
Austria v People's Republic of China (15:13)

Hungary will surely finish on the lowest position ever at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, but they aimed to improve their final standings and delivered a convincing performance against the Republic of Korea.

An 8:0 start to the match basically decided the outcome, with centre back Renáta Keceli-Mészáros leading the charge with seven goals, followed by Noémi Kacsó, who had five goals.

Goalkeeper Greta Majoros also added 11 saves for a 46% saving efficiency, while Korea had once again Ayoung Suh as their top scorer, with nine goals, adding five more assists. But the gap was too big to close, with the Asian side still making a small comeback in the second half, conceding a nine-goal loss, 25:34.

The People’s Republic of China ensured their best finish in the competition since 2005, after taking a 25:22 win against Austria, after penalties.

Shuoyan Zhang scored nine goals for the People’s Republic of China, with the match finishing 22:22 after regular time, as goalkeeper Yihan Sun was the hero on penaties, saving three penalties, while teammate Sitong Huang had an overall tally to 19 saves, for a 46% saving efficiency.

China scored three goals and managed to secure a 25:22 win, ensuring they feature in the Placement Matches 15/16, against Hungary.

Placement Matches 21-24
Angola v Algeria 27:16 (12:9)
Argentina v Faroe Islands 30:24 (17:12)

Angola and Argentina will face off in the Placement Match 21/22, after both sides have won their matches in this phase of the President’s Cup, ensuring a better finish at the end of the competition.

In the all-African derby, Angola ditched Algeria, with a strong defensive performance, spearheaded by goalkeeper Daniela Neto, with 12 saves, for a fantastic 52% saving efficiency.

That enabled them to jump to a healthy lead in the second half, where Algeria could only score seven goals, with Angola finally securing an 11-goal win to clinch their second win of the competition.

Debutants Faroe Islands tried to do as much as possible, but could not stop Argentina’s attack throughout the match, especially in the first half, when the South American side scored 17 goals.

Once again, the efforts of Helena Molina stood tall, with the left back scoring 11 goals for Argentina, while Silja Eystberg had 13 goals for the Faroe Islands, but could not help her side mount a comeback, with the European side conceding a 30:24 loss.

Placement Matches 29-32
India v United States of America 36:43 (16:24)
Canada v Chinese Taipei 24:36 (14:19)

After finishing 31st and 30th in the previous two editions of the competition, the USA will now have a chance to secure the 29th place, after their maiden win of the competition, 43:36, against India.

It was a fast-paced match, the highest-scoring so far at China 2026, with USA delivering some excellent shots, having an 80% shooting efficiency. Maggie Doherty Dahllof and Isabella Da Cruz had 11 and nine goals respectively, while India’s Sujata Sujata had 15 goals and Shivani Devi added 10 more goals.

The USA will face the Chinese Taipei in the Placement Match 29/30, after the Asian side also secured their maiden win of the competition, 36:24, against Canada.

The Chinese Taipei started strong and had a 15:13 lead after only 14 minutes, but only managed to score four goals in the ensuing 16 minutes of the first half, despite limiting the number of turnovers to four in the first 30 minutes, much under their 30.5 turnovers per match average.

Canada bounced back and used a 4:0 run to weather the storm and were down five goals at the break, 14:19, but could not manage to come back in the second half, with the Chinese Taipei securing the first win in the competition, 36:24, as goalkeeper Yu Jun Fu had 18 saves for a 50% saving efficiency, while Ching Lin scored nine goals.