Slovenia needed a win against Poland on Saturday night if they were to have any chance of making the quarter-finals of the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, but Poland got their second win of Spain 2021 with a hard-fought 60 minutes.
 
The result means that RHF and France have qualified through to the last eight from the group, with the two table-topping teams meeting on Monday to play for top spot.
 
MAIN ROUND GROUP I
Slovenia vs Poland 26:27 (13:12)
 
At the end of this match, Slovenia coach Dragan Adzic presented Alja Varagic with birthday flowers, but there was nothing to celebrate for either of them as they came up short in their quest to make the last eight of Spain 2021.
 
An early time out from Adzic was needed with his side 1:4 behind after just seven minutes and it did the trick, causing Poland coach Arne Senstad to take his own time out just four minutes later with the scores tied (4:4).
 
But the blocks of scoring kept coming after those initial 3:0 and 4:0 runs. Poland went on another 4:0 run, but then Slovenia, looking like they could go on to cause some serious damage against a side who had lost all but one of their previous five matches – their solitary win coming against Cameroon – stepped up, going on a 7:0 scoring run and stopping Poland scoring for 11 minutes (16th-27th minute) and put them ahead 12:9.
 
However, a lack of focus – or luck – at the end of the first half for Slovenia allowed Oktawia Plominska in to score a quick double for Poland and a more respectable 12:13 scoreline into the break. Gros came off screaming just before the pause, her frustration clear for all to see.
 
The second half was more of the same but with Slovenia lacking their usual fluidity, energy and focus on court as coach Senstad implored his team to “…do it right now” at another time out with 20 minutes remaining and his team two goals to the good (18:16).
 
When Adzic took a time out with under 10 minutes remaining and his side four down (20:24) you sensed it was their last chance to reset and so did Senstad, exclaiming to his team “every ball is ours, every rebound is ours.”
 
It was and Poland were in complete control in the last few minutes, although another Senstad time out settled his side in the last few moments as Slovenia came a bit too close for comfort – a disappointing end to their campaign following that impressive draw with RHF last time out in a game they could – should – have won.
 
“After a hard game against Russia we didn’t have enough time to rest and to be on the same level we were against them,” said Adzic following the match, with his player Ana Gros also disappointed with the performance. “We were not on our level today, we missed too many shots in attack and their goalkeeper was amazing,” she said. “We were not as aggressive in defence as we can be.”
 
For Poland, they will be looking forward to their final day clash against Montenegro on Monday.
 
“We think we have played a good tournament and we have met some really good teams and we met another good team today,” said Poland coach Senstad. “It was really good for us; we need this for the project we are working on and for the process on the team. I hope this [win] can give us extra energy.”
 
hummel Player of the Match: Dagmara Nocun, Poland