80 matches were already played from the 116 scheduled at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, and we now know which are the teams qualified for the quarter-finals, still in the hunt for the big prize – the trophy awarded to the winners.

The other 24 teams will be trying to secure a better place in the final standings, as there are only three matchdays scheduled at North Macedonia 2024, with the quarter-finals and the semi-finals due to be played on Thursday and Friday, while the last day, Sunday, 30 June, will bring the last four matches of the competition, including the big final.

However, what conclusions can be drawn after the 80 matches played, with the preliminary round, the main round and the groups of the President’s Cup concluded after seven days of competition?

Hungary, once again dominant at the IHF Women's Junior World Championship

Hungary have established themselves as one of the most consistent teams at this age level and this has been confirmed once again at North Macedonia 2024. Since their first medal, in 2001, Hungary have made the semi-finals six times in 10 editions, playing the final four times, including when they won the trophy in 2018 and at the previous edition, at Slovenia 2022, when they finished second, conceding a loss in the last act against Norway.

This time around, the reigning European champions have once again impressed, winning five matches out of the five they played, scored the largest number of goals, 187, conceded the second lowest number of goals, 96, only two less than Angola, and have won each match comfortably, by five goals ore more.

Hungary do not have the MVP of the W19 EHF EURO 2023, Petra Simon, in their ranks, but look like a well-oiled machine, as back Luca Csíkos has scored 28 goals, being in the top-10 in the goal scorer standings, while Liliána Csernyánszki has the largest number of steals – 11 – so far. On both sides of the ball, Hungary have impressed, and this is mostly due to a system which has yielded results time and time again.

 

 

 

 

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People's Republic of China show huge progress at North Macedonia 2024

If there is a surprise package at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, that team is surely the People’s Republic of China, one of the three non-European sides to make the main round, alongside more established teams like Egypt and the Republic of Korea.

China have secured their best result in the competition since 2005, when they finished 13th, a fantastic performance, taking into account the expanding of the competition from 24 to 32 teams since 2022. But as the People’s Republic of China are determined to improve the quality of handball in their country, and are due to host the 2024 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, this result is a crowning achievement of their ambition.

The biggest performance was the win against Czechia, 27:26, which basically sent China into the main round, the biggest shock of the competition so far. Regardless of the double-digits losses against Sweden, France and Germany, which prove that the Asian side still needs to improve, their performances have been impressive.

Montenegrin coach Suzana Lazovic, who took over this team three years ago, has worked wonders with China, especially as the Asian team now has a system, talented players and can challenge some of the best teams in the world, including Germany, which only had a one-goal lead at the break, 19:18, in the last match of the main round.

Top scorer Vukčević shines for Montenegro

Right back Jelena Vukčević is poised to secure the top goal scorer trophy at the end of the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, as she has secured a sizable lead, despite Montenegro failing to progress to the quarter-finals, which means she will feature a game less than the sides which are still in the hunt for the trophy.

The Montenegro right back, who is also the team captain, has scored 56 goals, 19 more than Angola’s Bernadeth Belo and 22 more than Uzbekistan’s Servinch Erbakaeva, reaching that total in impressive fashion, with a fantastic 77% shooting efficiency. 20 of those goals came from penalties, but Vukčević’s performance in nothing short of outstanding, as she has been the fulcrum of this Montenegro team, which will head to the Placement Matches 9-12.

Vukčević has an average of 11.2 goals per match, with her best performance coming in the win against North Macedonia, 26:23, in the last match of the main round, when Buducnost’s right back, who has also scored 32 goals in this season’s EHF Champions League Women, had a 13-goal outing.

Seven players have scored at least 30 goals in this competition, with the Islamic Republic of Iran left back Fatemeh Merikh scoring 33, as many as Denmark’s left wing Matilde Vestergaard and Portugal’s centre back Constança Sequeira. Argentina left back Sofia Gull has also scored 30 times.

 

 

 

 

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Eight European teams progress to quarter-finals

Eight European sides – Netherlands, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark, France, Sweden, Portugal and Iceland – have qualified for the quarter-finals, which means that the 24th edition of the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship will be won by an European side, which is the norm for the competition, with only the Republic of Korea breaking the norm at Croatia 2014.

The Asian champions, which were usually one of the teams to beat, and made the quarter-finals in every edition between 2005 and 2018, conceded three losses so far and will feature in the Placement Matches 13/16, finishing outside the top 10 for the second time in history and for the second time in a row.

Angola, which have also made the quarter-finals two years ago, at Slovenia 2022, did not make it into the main round, therefore failing to secure another top-10 finish in the competition. However, with the People’s Republic of China and Egypt still in the main round and in the top-16, there is clearly potential of good women’s teams in this age category in all sides of the world.

 

 

 

 

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Maiden wins and great comebacks

That was also clear in the President’s Cup, where Uzbekistan wrote history on Tuesday, in the last match of the group phase, securing their maiden win in history at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, with a dominating performance against the United States of America, 42:25. Uzbekistan also have the third top scorer in the competition, Sevinch Erkabaeva, with 34 goals.

Returning for the first time in the competition since 2008, the Chinese Taipei gave a run for their money to Argentina, when they lost by only two goals, 25:27, but bounced back against Mexico, taking their clearest win in history at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, 44:16.

The Islamic Republic of Iran have also proven their growth, by conceding a 23:26 loss against Tunisia, only to clinch a 27:25 win over Chile next, while Guinea have also shown glimpses of potential in a 22:15 win over the USA and conceding a loss in the last second against African champions Angola, 22:23.