The main round of the 2024 IHF Women's Youth World Championship threw off on Sunday with two low-scoring matches in Group I, as Sweden and Montenegro split the points in a 19:19 draw, while Croatia climbed to the top position after a win over Serbia, 20:17.
 
In the President's Cup Group I, Austria proved too strong for Angola, while in a more hard-fought encounter, Chile snatched two points from Nigeria. 

MAIN ROUND GROUP I

•     Sweden vs Montenegro 19:19 (9:8)
•     Croatia vs Serbia 20:17 (10:9)

PRESIDENT'S CUP GROUP I

•     Austria vs Angola 38:20 (13:9)
•     Nigeria vs Chile 22:23 (10:11)

What happened: For the Montenegrin side, it was the second straight draw after they split the points with Croatia the day before (18:18). Sweden took an early control of the game to open up a 9:5 lead, yet the Balkan team hit back with a 5:0 run to lead 10:9 early in the second half. Powered by Nina Ramusovic, who became the top scorer of the game with five goals, Montenegro were slightly dominant after the break and were close to a win, but the Swedish side salvaged a point, as Thelia Johansson scored in the last second, so now Montenegro have two points, and Sweden sit bottom of the group with one point. 

In the Balkan derby between Serbia and Croatia, Serbia missed an opportunity to seal an early quarter-final ticket, as they needed a win to reach that goal, but ultimately lost to Croatia, who now lead the group with three points. The Serbian team was in the driver's seat for most of the first half and led 9:6 in the 23th minute, but Croatia hit back with a 4:0 run and took a lead at half-time. After the restart, the fight was extremely tight again, and the teams were tied at 16:16 with nine minutes to go, yet Croatia had the upper hand in the closing minutes and ultimately won by three goals despite just a 49% shooting efficiency. 

Austria, which started the President's Cup with two points, claimed two more with a commanding win over Angola and made a step towards the Placement Matches 17/20. The teams were level at 3:3 early in the match, but then the European side enjoyed a 5:0 run to pull clear. And even if their four-goal advantage at the break did not look safe, the Austrians were entirely dominant in the second half, when they scored 25 goals. 13 of their 14 outfield players netted at least once, with Viktoria Polanszky leading the way with seven goals from seven attempts, and goalkeeper Nina Plavotic boasting a 50% save rate. 

While Austria lead Group I with four points, Chile and Nigeria are level on two, after the South American side won their mutual encounter. Nigeria had a slight advantage for most of the opening half, yet Chile took a 11:10 lead at the break and then pulled clear at 19:14 midway through the second half, as their goalkeeper Daniela Asenjo delivered multiple saves. Powered by Taiwo Babatunde, who became their best scorer with seven goals, Nigeria used a late surge to draw level at 22:22 with 25 seconds to play, but Anais Larenas scored her seventh goal two seconds from the final buzzer, securing Chile's first win at China 2024. 

Stat of the day: 16 – the number of saves made by Croatia's goalkeepers, Lara Pudic and Nika Kraljevic, who made a big contribution to their team's win against Serbia

What's next: The Group I of the Main round at China 2024 will finish on Tuesday, as Croatia will certainly reach the quarter-final with a draw against Sweden, and the winner of the match between Serbia and Montenegro will also go through. There is also the scenario when the four teams all end on three points, with the goal difference being the next tie-breaker. And in the President's Cup Group I, even a draw against Nigeria will be enough for Austria to go to the Placement Matches 17/20.