Germany extended their winning streak at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship to three matches, after a dominating performance against Poland, 33:17, which sealed the first place in Group F and enabled Markus Gaugisch’s side to start the next phase with three points.

GROUP F
Germany vs Poland 33:17 (19:10)

It was more about the two points or winning Group F at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship in this match between Germany and Poland, as the two sides had a rivalry spinning over decades, which had another episode on the cards in the last match of Group F in the Jyske Bank Boxen, in Herning.

Both sides had previously won their first two matches against Japan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with Germany and Poland sure of their progression to the main round at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, with only the question about the number of points taken into the next phase. A draw would see them take three each, while winning the game would have ensured four points.

And from the get go, the start was fiery, with two towering defences failing to stop the opponent’s attacks, with each team scoring four goals in the first five minutes, as goalkeepers failed to stop shots. However, there was only one team which had a free-flowing attack, which stood the test of time.

That team was Germany, who showed flashes of brilliance early, taking a 4:0 unanswered run to create the first big lead of the match, 8:4. That run prompted a team time-out from Poland’s coach, Arne Senstad, who sensed something was wrong with his team’s attack. Partially, Poland cancelled that run with some fine-tuning in attack, cutting the lead to 8:7.

But from that moment on, in the last 16 minutes of the first half, the Polish side scored only three goals, enabling Germany to create a 19:10 lead at the break. It was a mix of multiple factors, starting from a fantastic Germany defence, which fueled five converted fast breaks, as well as a disappointing effort from Poland’s goalkeepers, who saved only one shot between them in the first 30 minutes, for a meagre 5% saving efficiency.

That 11:2 run established by Germany was the pivotal moment of the match and proved to be the final touch for their third win in a row at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023, with Poland’s bad streak extended in the second half, which Germany threw off with a 8:1 run, extending their lead to 16 goals, 27:11.

Not even another team time-out from Arne Senstad managed to steer Poland onto the right path, as the gap continued to grow even bigger, as Germany secured the largest win in over 20 years against Poland, 33:17, delivering a huge blow in the morale of their counterparts.

With seven goals in this match, Germany’s centre back Alina Grijseels was the best scorer, and jumped to the first place in the top goal scorer standings, tying Norway’s Camilla Herrem and Austria’s Katarina Pandzic, with the three players scoring 20 goals each so far.

With four points in their bag before the start of the main round, Germany will be one of the favourites to progress to the quarter-finals from Group III of that phase of the competition, as they are looking for their third consecutive appearance in the knock-out phase of the IHF Women’s World Championship, a streak started at Japan 2019.

Poland will now need better results than this loss in the main round, where they face Denmark, Romania and Serbia or Chile, starting the next phase with two points, two behind Germany, Group F’s winners.

hummel Player of the Match: Katharina Filter (Germany)