Only two teams stay in fight for the President's Cup at the 2024 IHF Women's Youth World Championship, as Argentina and Romania will fight for the consolation trophy after winning their hard-fought matches on Thursday, against Austria and the Republic of Korea respectively. 

PLACEMENT MATCHES 17-20

• Austria vs Argentina 23:25 (11:12)
• Republic of Korea vs Romania 31:32 (13:13)

PLACEMENT MATCHES 21-24

• Nigeria vs Chinese Taipei 22:29 (7:13)
• Kosovo vs Egypt 22:29 (8:14)

What happened: Argentina had a 66% shooting efficiency compared to Austria's 46%, and their goalkeeper Lola Nunes Fridmana stood as a wall, as the South American side took their fourth consecutive win in the tournament. The match was very tight, with both sides taking turns in the lead, but Argentina were already in front at half-time, 12:11. A similar scenario followed after the break, and the rivals were tied at 22:22 with six minutes to play, but Argentina had the upper hand in the closing minutes and grabbed a victory, as their best scorer Helena Molina finished the game with nine goals, and Isabella Patrone added five more. 

The match between the Republic of Korea and Romania was also tight, but the European side ultimately earned their fourth straight win in the tournament, as their players Anamaria Serban and Enryka Bodijar netted nine and seven goals respectively, combining for half of their team's tally. At the Republic of Korea, Yeseo Lee scored even more, 10 goals, as her team were leading most of the first half before Maria Soroceanu drew level 11 seconds from the break. After the restart, Romania pulled clear at 23:17, and while the Asian team responded with a 4:0 run and continued to fight, the Romanians never conceded their lead. With 12 seconds to play, Serban scored from a fast break to make the score 32:30, and Suyeon Kim's goal three seconds from the final buzzer could not change anything. 

In the Placement Matches 21-24, the match between the debutants Nigeria and Chinese Taipei went in favour of the Asian side, who claimed their third win at China 2024. The teams were tied at 7:7 in the 23rd minute before Chinese Taipei boasted a 6:0 run, spurred by Yu Jun Fu's saves, and enjoyed a comfortable six-goal lead at the break. In the second half, Chinese Taipei went on to dominate, as their leader Ching Lin finished the game with 11 goals and increased her tally in the competition to 39 goals. Their advantage reached double digits on a couple of occasions before Nigeria slashed the gap to seven goals in the end.

Egypt defeated Kosovo with exactly the same score, 29:22, and just like Chinese Taipei, the African team led by six goals at the break. The Egyptians took an early control of the mane, as they opened a 7:2 lead in the 13th minute and never looked back, even if Kosovo also enjoyed some good spells and tried to put pressure on their rivals. Judy Waled Ghonim became Egypt's leading scorer with eight goals, while her teammates Ganna Noureldin Ali and Gihad Wael Sayed combined for 18 saves, contributing a lot to their team's victory. 

Stat of the day: 19 – the number of saves made by Argentina's goalkeeper Lola Nunes Fridmana in the match against Austria, as her 46% saving efficiency helped the South American team to win. 

What's next: On Friday, Argentina will meet Romania in the President's Cup final, while Austria and the Republic of Korea will fight for the 19th place. On the same day, Chinese Taipei are set to play Egypt in the Placement Match 21-22, while Nigeria and Kosovo will face off in the Placement Match 23-24.