Hungary mounted a spirited comeback to secure a place in the final at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, cancelling a four-goal lead for the Netherlands, to secure a fantastic 28:24 win.

This is the second consecutive finals berth at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship for Hungary, as the reigning European champions have the chance to seal the second trophy in history.

SEMI-FINAL
Netherlands vs Hungary 24:28 (15:12)

Throughout the preliminary round and the main round at North Macedonia 2024, Hungary were touted as big favourites, clearly dominating their opponents, looking almost machine-like at times, a team which was difficult to beat. But cracks began appearing in their armour on Thursday, as the quarter-final against Iceland saw Hungary vulnerable for the first time.

Eventually, the European champions sealed a 34:31 extra-time win, but the Netherlands, their opponents in the semi-finals, were waiting to create the upset, especially as they were riding a six-match winning streak themselves and provided some excellent defensive support in the competition.

For the Netherlands to have a chance in the match, they needed to prove their mettle in defence, and they did just that in the first half, after the two teams traded blows most of the first 15 minutes. But Hungary only took the lead once, 9:8, after their left back, Lea Faragó, scored two goals in a row.

From that moment on, in 14 minutes, Hungary managed to score only four times, while the Netherlands delivered a fantastic performance in attack, with right wing Donna Bakker, right back Alieke van Maurik and left wing Lois van Vliet combining for 13 goals.

They looked to be unstoppable, as the Netherlands took control of the match and opened a three-goal lead at the break, 15:12, with Hungary in clear need on improvement on both sides of the ball, but especially in the goalkeeping area, where Szofi Imre and Klara Zaj had only one save between them in 30 minutes, too little to exert pressure on the Netherlands’ attack.

In fact, only four players were on the scoresheet for the Netherlands, a superbly efficient display against one of the powerhouses at this age category, but Hungary are not a team to ever back down and they started their comeback early in the second half, after going down by four goals, 16:12.

A 3:0 unanswered run, which saw the Netherlands fail to score for seven minutes and 44 seconds, brought back Hungary into the match, but they still lacked the defensive composure and cohesion to really exert the pressure, as the Dutch side found the answers to Hungary’s aggressive 4-2 defence and opened another three-goal lead, 20:17, with 16 minutes to go.

But then, everyhing started to crumble for the Netherlands. The ruthless Hungary delivered a 7:1 run, preventing Netherlands to score more than one goal for 10 minutes, thanks to a fantastic performance from goalkeeper Zaj, who saved 10 shots in the second half, finishing the match with 11 saves and a 41% saving efficiency.

The tables turned and Hungary bounced back in fantastic fashion, to seal their sixth finals berth at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship and their seventh in history, with grit, determination and a different attitude in the second half of this semi-final, allowing the Dutch side to score only four goals in the last 16 minutes.

Hungary are now one of the two unbeaten teams in the competition, with only France, which will play in the second semi-final against Denmark following suit. On the other hand, just like two years ago, at Slovenia 2022, the Netherlands will play for the bronze medal match.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Donna Bakker (Netherlands)