Backed by over 4.000 raucous fans, hosts People’s Republic of China threw off their campaign at the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship with a win against Algeria, 33:20.

Egypt registered the biggest win of the day at the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, 56:21, against India, while Romania and Japan also enjoyed a winning start.

Group A
Egypt vs India 56:21 (29:10)

Egypt claimed their biggest-ever win at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, defeating India by 35 goals. The African champions were entirely dominant throughout the match and became the first team at China 2026 to hit the 50-goal mark.

Egypt opened the game with a 4:0 run before Sujata scored India’s first goal of the match from a 7m shot. With five goals, Sujata accounted for half of her team’s goals before the break, but the Egyptians had many more players taking responsibility in attack.

They led 15:3 midway through the first half and 23:5 in the 23rd minute before boasting a 19-goal cushion at half-time. Egypt’s goalkeeper, Gihad Sayed, also had an impact, helping the team with her 44% save rate.

Retaj Mohamed Abdelrahman, who replaced her after the break, did similarly well, recording a 39% saving efficiency. In contrast, India’s goalkeepers and defence found it hard to hold back Player of the Match Jowaireya Tamer Abdallah, who converted all 10 of her shots, all from open play.

As a result, the gap between the sides continued to grow. India had as many as 40 turnovers in the game, and Egypt boasted an 82% shot efficiency, which helped them go top of Group A after the first round.

Player of the Match: Jowaireya Tamer Abdallah (Egypt)

Group C
Romania vs Canada 40:15 (22:8)

Canada arrived at the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship for their first appearance since 1999, after winning the 2025 IHF Trophy U19 – North America and the Caribbean and finishing fourth at the 2026 IHF Inter-Continental Trophy. However, their lack of experience was evident from the opening minutes against the European side.

Canada managed to stay within reach until 4:3, but once Romanian goalkeeper Florentina-Anastasia Roșu started making saves, the gap began to stretch. Romania quickly turned a four-goal lead into a six-goal cushion, going from 8:4 to 11:5 in just six minutes while Canada endured several scoreless periods. Florence Boisclair carried the Canadian attack early on, scoring all of her side’s first four goals.

On the other side, Romania steadily imposed their rhythm. With 10 different players already scoring by the break, they gradually stretched the lead and entered half-time comfortably ahead by 14 goals. Canada faltered more and more as the game progressed, losing their impetus, while Romania comfortably rotated their squad.

All three Romanian goalkeepers made their contribution and combined for an impressive 57.6% save efficiency, while Enryka-Valentina Bodijar pulled the strings in attack on her way to the hummel Player of the Match award. For Canada, Florence Boisclair continued to lead the way with six goals, while Mahély Lemaire was the only teammate to score more than once, adding three.

Romania will face Brazil on the second day, while Canada will look for improvement in attack after their 15-goal output, tied with Paraguay for the second-lowest score of the opening day.

Player of the Match: Enryka-Valentina Bodijar (Romania)

Group H
Japan vs Faroe Islands 32:22 (16:11)

The Faroe Islands are making their debut at the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, and although they once again showed the fighting spirit that has become a hallmark of Faroese national teams, they struggled to match Japan’s pace and efficiency.

Both sides prefer a fast style of handball, but with speed came mistakes — and the Faroese committed more of them. Those turnovers eventually allowed Japan to create a gap, although it took time for the Asian side to break away. The Faroe Islands even held the lead once at 2:1, while Japan’s early advantage never exceeded three goals.

It was only in the closing stages of the first half that Japan found another gear. A scoring burst led by Futaba Ikeda, Mao Kato and Haruhi Sano finally opened a more comfortable gap and sent Japan into the break with a five-goal advantage.

The 2025 Asian Women’s Junior Handball Championship winners pulled away even further after the restart, using a 5:0 unanswered run to open a 23:12 lead and move into double digits. With goalkeeper Hana Osaki delivering a strong performance between the posts, the Faroe Islands faced a tall order for a possible comeback.

With victory all but secured, Japan slowed down in the closing stages. The Faroese had opportunities to further reduce the deficit, but another set of turnovers stood in the way. Japan joined Norway at the top of the table, with their clash on the second day opening the door to the main round for the winners. The Faroe Islands will try to secure their historic first World Championship win against Croatia.

Player of the Match: Hana Osaki (Japan)

Group E
People’s Republic of China vs Algeria 33:20 (12:10)

Shaking off a slow start, which can be put down to nerves, hosts People’s Republic of China eventually delivered a big win over Algeria in their opener at the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship.

For 30 minutes, the two teams have gone toe-to-toe in front of over 4.000 raucous fans, which supported China from the first minute onwards, but the Asian side missed too many easy shots in order to pull away from Algeria.

Indeed, with only 45% shooting efficiency and four fast breaks missed, China only had a 12:10 lead at the break, but it was increasingly clear that the African side is not going to hold on for much longer throughout this match.

And when Jing Liang and Jiaxin Hu combined for 12 goals, while goalkeeper Sitong Huang hovered around the 40% saving efficiency mark, the hosts started to get away. By the 40th minute, they were up seven goals, 20:13, a gap which increased to 10 goals with 13 minutes to go, 27:17.

Eventually, China jumped to a clear double-digits win, 33:20, much to the happiness of the fans which cheered until the end. China will face Guinea next, while Algeria need a win against Denmark to keep their chances of a place in the main round.

Player of the Match: Jing Liang (People’s Republic of China)