Paraguay end Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 on a high

Paraguay closed their appearance at the 26th IHF Women's World Championship with a strong 36:30 win against Kazakhstan, their second win in seven matches. Just like at Spain 2021, the South American team secured 29th position, thus giving Kazakhstan their worst placement in World Championship history.

President's Cup
Placement Match 29/30
Paraguay vs Kazakhstan 36:30 (18:20)

After an well-balanced start, Kazakhstan were the first side to gain a two-goal lead followed by a great connection of Sevara Rejemetova and Veronika Khadrina, but they soon slipped and allowed Paraguay to make a turnaround.

Between the ninth and the 13th minute, the South American team spurred a 6:0 run and morphed their deficit into an 11:7 lead. Their good defensive display forced Kazakhstan to shoot from difficult situations, which resulted in a good number of goals scored from fast breaks.

Paraguay continued to press, even though they tried to slow things down and keep the significant lead. From having the biggest lead by seven goals (19:12) nine minutes before the break, Paraguay derailed and made room for a Kazakhstan comeback. The Asian side found a new impetus and made a 6:1 run and cut the gap to only two goals, 18:20, just as the referee signalled for the end of the first half.

The Kazakhstan comeback continued after the break too and after a 3:0 run, their top scorer and hummel Player of the Match, Veronika Khadrina, scored her eighth goal to tie the score, 21:21. Almost starting from scratch, Paraguay relied mostly on the left wing Ariana Portillo Mieres, who continued to find solutions for Kazakhstan's deep defence and was pushing her side to a one or two-goal lead throughout the second half.

When Zhanerke Seitkassym netted for 27:29, it looked like we could see a thrilling finish to the game but Paraguay made sure the opposite. They used a 5:0 goal run and claimed a convincing 36:30 win.

Paraguay matched their result from the 2021 IHF Women's World Championship, when they finished 29th, while Kazakhstan, who came home from Spain 2021 with 24th place, will now have to deal with their worst placement in their eight World Championship appearances, ending up 30th.

hummel Player of the Match: Veronika Khardina (Kazakhstan)