People's Republic of China seal win in Greenland's record appearance

In their first-ever mutual meeting, the People's Republic of China proved too strong for Greenland and cruised to a 32:24 win, their second one Group I of the President's Cup.

President’s Cup
Group I
People's Republic of China vs Greenland 32:24 (17:8)

The start was quite well-balanced, with the two sides in a deadlock after a pacy start, with a 3:3 scoreline after five minutes. But since that moment on, Greenland had no firepower, failing to match China's excellent pace. The strong Asian defence also set up excellent fast break opportunities, as the gap grew more and more. More importantly for Greenland, their goalkeepers failed to register a save up until the 23rd minute, with devastating consquences.

A 5:0 run for China took the score to 9:3, prompting a team time-out for Greenland, but not even this saved them, as China cruised to a nine-goal lead, 17:8, after Greenland had a meagre 42% attacking efficiency in the first half.

Greenland kept playing with a smile upon on their face until the end of the match, bringing a great atmosphere to their numerous fans in the stands, cheering for what has been a huge adventure at Denmark/Norway/Swwden 2023. With a couple of nice goals from Ivaana Holm, Greenland were keeping China below the ten-goal mark up until the 44th minute, when Xiaoqing Li was successful from the seven-metre line and opened a 24:14 lead.

Making an appearance at the world flagship competition after 22 years is a great deal for Greenland and one could see them celebrate any goal like it was like the decider in a final and that energy allowed them to once again reduce the deficit as they entered the last ten minutes of the game with trailing by six.

China used the last minutes of the game to widen the gap and secure an eight-goal lead, even though it was Greenland who missed the last chance. Even though they are on a ten-game losing streak in World Championship history, their best performance at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 allowed them to tie with their lowest defeat ever - the 19:27 loss against Japan at Italy 2001. Greenland also scored the most goals in a single match at the IHF Women's World Championship, a huge deal for a team without a proper experience.

The People's Republic of China and Iceland will decide the President's Cup Group I winner in their next clash on Munday, thus find out whether they will be in Placement Matches 25/26 or 27/28. Greenland now aim to win against Paraguay and secure a spot in the Placement Matches 29/30.

hummel Player of the Match: Ivalu Cecilie Bjerge (Greenland)