Group H: Group up for grabs on last day of group matches

Who would have expected to see Belarus and the Russian Handball Federation Team atop Group C before the last match of the preliminary round? The European neighbours are in excellent position, while group favourites Slovenia are still looking to move climb the group table. Group H is up for grabs on the last day.

Republic of Korea vs Russian Handball Federation 16:30 CAT

The Russian Handball Federation Team have delighted their fans back home, receiving numerous congratulatory phone calls and messages after their 31:25 win against Slovenia. An aggressive defence paired with a sublime Viktor Kireev between their posts left no doubt they were going to win after they took the lead ten minutes into the game. 

“My team played brilliant against Slovenia. It was an excellent fight about 60 minutes. Now, we have three points in our group but we know that the match against the Republic of Korea won’t be easy, especially after the victory against Slovenia,” said coach Velimir Petkovic and continued: “We have gone to our limits and it’s the question of whether we’re able to show the same performance again after a short period of recovery.”

For Korea, they recovered from their poor performance against Slovenia, showing signs of improvement against Belarus in their second game. They were level in the first quarter of the match and although they trailed by six goals at half-time, they kept fighting and lost the second half by only a two-goal difference. Led by Jin-Young Kim and Jinho Kim, who have scored 14 and 11 goals, respectively, the young squad need to improve their attacking efficiency, 51 percent, if they want to take their first win at the World Championship. 
 
The head-to-head record favours the Russian Handball Federation Team. They are unbeaten in nine out of ten games against Korea. The only loss came at the 2004 Olympic Games (32:35) and at Germany 2007 when they drew 32:32 in the group phase.

Slovenia vs Belarus 19:00 CAT

Slovenia had a magnificent start to the tournament, breaking the Slovenia record for most goals in one match with 51. However, after the superb performance, they were overmatched by the Russian Handball Federation Team, who took a long-awaited victory after 16 years. The pressure is on Slovenia, who need at least a point if they want to officially book a place in the main round and put themselves in a more favourable position for the next stage of Egypt 2021.

“We have the luck that we can play better in our last match in the preliminary round. It’s important that we stick together and that we will improve again,” said coach Ljubomir Vranjes after their loss. 

“Of course we have to get up quickly again, it’s always hard to lose but we have to win this,” added right wing Blaz Janc.

Janc and his teammate Dragan Gajic have played well, scoring one third of Slovenia’s goals in this tournament. Gajic has scored 15 goals in two matches – the same amount he scored in the last encounter between the two sides at Qatar 2015, when Slovenia took a 34:29 win over Belarus with Gajic was the top scorer for his team. 

While the pressure is on Slovenia, Belarus have already secured their main round spot. Playing in his first World Championship, Mikita Vailupau picks up where he left off from the Men’s EHF EURO 2020 - scoring goals. 

The 25-year-old right wing scored 47 at his first international tournament. At Egypt 2021, he has already netted 18 times.