Egypt secured a win at the start of the 2024 IHF Women's Junior World Championship, beating Chile, 26:16, and joined Switzerland at the top of the table of group B.

GROUP B
Egypt vs Chile 26:16 (12:7)

Chile were considered the underdogs in Group B, but proved a good fighting spirit against a strong Egypt team, despite the final result, which saw them losing by ten goals. The runners-up of the 2023 CAHB African Women's Junior Handball Championship had little chance to rest throughout the match and had to work hard for the entire 60 minutes to secure a convincing victory.

The first 15 minutes of the game saw the two goalkeepers trade saves, as the Alkaloid Player of the Match, voted by the fans on ihf.info and the IHF app, Gihad Wael Sayed paved the way for her teammates with six saves from 12 shots. Paula Antonia Craig Ortiz on the other side was in no way inferior to her with a 40 percent strike rate.

Her work ensured that the match was goalless until the fourth minute. Later, Sayed's saves saw Egypt go on a 4-0 scoring run and Ortiz allowed Chile to close the gap. However, a series of misplaced passes saw Chile lose momentum and allow their opponents to pull away.

Despite taking the lead, the Egyptians struggled with long-range shots, missing plenty of chances from the back line, which did not allow them to extend their lead by more than five goals by half-time.

A slow start of the second half proved to be a wake-up call, as Egypt found new momentum and went on a 3:0 run with the help of Kenzy Hatem Salama. That was a decisive moment in the game, as they opened up an unassailable 18:11 lead, one which Chile could not cut back.

It all led to Egypt claiming their second-highest win at the IHF Women's Junior World Championship, a ten-goal margin, while Chile are still waiting for their first win. Right-winger Kenzy Hatem Salama scored five times for Egypt, while right-back Constanza Paul scored the same number of goals for the South American team.

An all-African derby awaits Egypt on Thursday when they take on Tunisia. Chile have another tough task ahead of them, the ambitious Switzerland, who will be trying to get closer to their main goal - the main round.

Alkaloid Player of the match: Gihad Wael Sayed (Egypt)