The Netherlands secured their second bronze medal in history at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, with a dominant display against Denmark in the penultimate match at North Macedonia 2024, delivering a clear 34:28 win.

The Dutch team also became the first team since the Republic of Korea in 2005 and 2008 to secure back-to-back bronze medals, with a fantastic generation capping off an impressive display at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, where they won seven matches and lost a single one.

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
Netherlands vs Denmark 34:28 (18:13)

For 45 minutes, the Netherlands had the upper hand in the semi-final against Hungary, but their level faltered, just enough to concede a painful loss, 24:28, and head to the bronze medal match for the second consecutive edition of the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship.

Ahead of the second consecutive bronze medal for the Dutch side were Denmark, another Scandinavian side, after they had previously won against Sweden at Slovenia 2022, but it looked like the Netherlands were slight underdogs, especially because of the depth Denmark proved so far at North Macedonia 2024.

However, the start was virtually flawless for Ricardo Clarijs’ side, as the Netherlands took a 9:5 lead after 13 minutes doing all the right things. In fact, they had a truly superior shooting efficiency – 82% compared to Denmark’s 36% - limited Denmark to only three goals scored in positional attacks and held the upper hand.

Denmark’s goalkeepers also failed to save a shot in the first 13 minutes, which played directly into the Netherlands’ hands. With right back Alieke van Maurik scoring six times, dominating from the back court, the Netherlands staved off any attempt of comeback from Denmark, which rotated players, but failed to get closer than two goals.

In fact, a 3:0 run to end the first half, fuelled the Dutch challenge for the win, with right back Paris Scholten, deputising for a few minutes for van Maurik, converting two shots and opening a 18:13 gap at the break for the Netherlands.

The Netherlands led by as many as six goals, but once again they had some off moments in the second half, when Denmark cut the gap to three goals and had two chances to reduce it to two, only for them to miss them, which eventually proved costly. Two converted fast breaks for the Netherlands opened another five-goal lead, 25:20, and it looked like the match was over, despite right back Clara Bang scoring seven times and left wing Matilde Vestergaard adding five goals, improving their overall tally in the competition to 47 and 50 goals respectively.

It was exactly those fast breaks, converted by right wing Donna Bakker and left wing Lois van Vliet, who had four goals each, which finally tilted the balance into the Netherlands’ way. Denmark risked it all, but it backfired, as van Maurik finished the match with nine goals, absolutely dominating Denmark’s defence, with the gap growing bigger and bigger, until Denmark finally cut it down in the last seconds, for a 34:28 win for the Netherlands. 

Denmark missed out on a medal after conceding the second loss in six bronze medal matches, and failed to secure their ninth medal at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, which would have seen them tie the Republic of Korea as the most decorated teams in the history of the competition.

However, the Netherlands were jumping and screaming of joy, after another fantastic display, in their second consecutive bronze medal match at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship. They tied their best performance in the competition and now have two bronze medals in their history, after a fantastic display at North Macedonia 2024, where they won seven matches and lost only one, the semi-final against Hungary.

Alkaloid Player of the Match: Alieke van Maurik (Netherlands)