Fiery Iceland beat Greenland for maiden win at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023

After missing out on the main round by the narrowest of margins, Iceland started the President's Cup with a more than convincing win against Greenland, 37:14, their largest in World Championship history. 

President’s Cup Group I
Greenland vs Iceland 14:37 (8:19)

In 2011, Iceland were fighting for 12th place at their last appearance at the world flagship competition. This time around they are now only in the President's Cup, but where they were only side out of eight teams which did not finish the preliminary round with zero points, after a tie, 26:26, with Angola. Their first obstacle was Greenland who are still waiting for their first-ever win, and their wait is now prolonged after a tough 14:37 defeat in Frederikshavn.

For the first ten minutes Greenland looked confident on the court, leading 4:2. But that was about it. Elín Jóna Thorsteinsdóttir pushed Iceland to a 3:0 run after a few saves and left Greenland without a proper answer.

However, Greenland could not wrestle back and with a hasty attack started to make mistake after mistake. Having 17 turnovers in the first half, compared to Iceland's three gives the right picture of how the first half went. While the players from the land of ice and snow were not able to score for 12 minutes, Iceland propelled to a ten-goal lead just before the halftime buzzer.

The second half brought even tougher times for Greenland as they could not find the right momentum defensive or offensive-wise. Iceland continued to pounce, having 14 out of 16 players scoring at least once, with right wing Thórey Anna Áseirsdóttir leading the pack, finishing the night with ten goals without a miss. The gap grew from +17 to +23 when Áseirsdóttir set the final result (37:14).

In the next round, Iceland will try to score another celebration against winless Paraguay, while People's Republic of China will be Greenland's next challenge.

hummel Player of the Match: Ivaana Augusta Ottosen Holm (Greenland)