Before this Austria vs Greenland there was a very small chance that the North America and the Caribbean champions could have qualified through to the main round, but, as expected, the European wildcard side ran out winners to go through to the last 24.

Group C
Greenland vs Austria 23:43 (13:20)

Greenland ended their main round campaign with a loss against European side, but their smiles – shown throughout their time in Stavanger, Norway – shone brightly as they left the court to face the upcoming President’s Cup.

Austria coach Herbert Müller said before the game that Greenland would try everything and so they did, playing their usual 7v6, switching to a normal attack and coming out right at the start of the second half with one-on-one marking.

All of that tested the Austrians, but they coped well, led by left back Katarina Pandza who scored eight from eight attempts, including two assists.

By the 10th minute, Austria were 7:2 ahead, but Greenland fought back in the next 10 to more than halve it (10:13, 20th).

Another burst then came from the Austrians, who took in a 20:13 half-time break and despite some impressive play from their opponents, the 13:2 scoring run for Austria in the last quarter (45-60th minute) showed the difference in the two teams.

It was no surprise Pandza was voted in as the best player in the match, but in truth, it was a whole squad game from the team who, with their constant rotation, ensured they sapped Greenland’s energy thanks to their average 21-second attacks (compared to Greenland’s 37).

Greenland ended with an improved 52% shooting efficiency after coming into the game with just 34%, but as they have repeatedly said before and during this championship, just qualifying through to Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 represents success.

Both teams now have very different challenge ahead of them.

hummel Player of the Match: Katarina Pandza (Austria)