The last matchday of the women's tournament opened with a direct duel for the second place in Group B, as Netherlands had a one-point lead over Hungary. And it was the Dutch team who delivered an overall better performance, taking a 30:26 win, and as the runners-up of their group, they are now waiting for their rival in the quarter-final. 

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP В
Hungary vs Netherlands 26:30 (16:19)

Both rivals were quite efficient in attack early in the match, but as they exchanged goals, neither team could open up more than a one-goal advantage. Both Hungary and Netherlands took turns in the lead before the Dutch side enjoyed a 4:0 run to take a 12:8 advantage in the 18th minute.

However, then Per Johansson's team had a short slump in their game, as they had a few turnovers, and Hungary, spurred by some breakthrough goals from Petra Simon, enjoyed their own successful run to cut the gap to just one goal on several occasions.

Both sides' goalkeepers had little impact for much of the first half, but when Rinka Duindam replaced Yara ten Holte, Netherlands improved in that aspect. Duindam stopped three out of five shots and helped her team to pull clear by three goal at half-time, 19:16.

Duindam continued to do well between the posts after the break and recorded nine saves for a 53% saving efficiency before she was injured midway through the second half following a hard collision with Anna Albek. Ten Holte returned on the court, and she improved compared to the first half, just like her Hungarian colleague Blanka Böde-Bíró, whose saves was one of the factors which helped her team to put pressure on their rivals.

Viktoria Gyori-Lukacs was not always efficient in this match, scoring five goals from 11 attempts, but she became the Hungarian top scorer alongside Katrin Klujber. With eight minutes to go, Hungary slashed the gap to just two goals, 24:26, but they faied to score in their next couple of attacks, so Netherlands increased their lead to 28:24 and basically settled the game.

Netherlands had a 67% shooting efficiency compared to Hungary's 49%, and Lois Abbingh became their leading scorers with seven goals, while Angela Malestein netted six times. Johansson's team finished the group stage with four wins in five encounters, losing only to defending champions France, while Hungary, who have five points, may still drop to the fourth position, provided Angola take a big win against Brazil later today.