The first draw of the women’s handball competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was registered in the 16th match, with Hungary and Angola sharing the spoils after a dramatic match, which ended in a 31:31 stalemate.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP В
Hungary vs Angola 31:31 (15:16)

When Hungary jumped to a 3:0 early lead and Angola needed five minutes and 37 seconds to score their first goal, it looked like game over and the European side were in total control. Too many mistakes from the African champions, which tried to come back multiple times, look to be ending in failure, as the gap went even further, 12:7, after 17 minutes.

Hungary were unstoppable in attack, constantly pacing and dictating the rhythm, while Angola failed to really get something going in defence. But apparently they did not need to at all. They just needed to be more precise in attack, which is exactly what they did, scoring nine times in the next 13 minutes.

The big surprise was Hungary’s defence and especially when trying to stop the line player, Angola’s captain, Albertina Kassoma, who was absolutely fantastic. Time after time, Hungary edged to block her, but Kassoma was simply too physically overpowering to stop. And when she did not score – three goals only in the first half – she created openings for her teammates.

And just like that, Angola came back, finishing the first half with a 9:3 run, to take the lead, 16:15, and apply pressure on Hungary, which looked dumbfounded, needing a new gameplan to try to stop their opponents.

Enter Kassoma again, who was virtually unstoppable in the first half. After scoring only five goals in the first two matches in the women’s handball competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Kassoma nearly doubled the tally in only 60 minutes, finishing the match with nine goals, as she was head and toes over Hungary’s central defenders.

Angola controlled the second half, but never opened a gap larger than two goals, with Hungary bouncing back and taking the lead after 47 minutes, 27:26, with a 3:0 run spurred by right back Katrin Klujber, who was her team’s top scorer in the match, with nine goals. Yet it was still the African champions who were leading with four minutes to go, 30:29, making it a dash to the end.

With the scored tied at 31:31 with 50 seconds to go, Hungary had two chances to seal the win. First, Katrin Klujber missed a penalty, saved by the fantastic Marta Antonio, the Angola goalkeeper who saved 12 shots in the match, and then Angola defended perfectly, to block any chance of another Hungary last-gasp goal, as in the previous match against Brazil.

Both Hungary and Angola have three points in a very well-balanced group, currently led by France and the Netherlands with four points each. Brazil (two points) and Spain (zero points) are below the two teams in the standings.