France make it to main round, as Sweden, Egypt and Germany grab third win in a row

A tough game, a true roller-coaster at times, saw reigning champions France extend their stay at the 24th IHF Men's Junior World Championship, sealing a main round berth with a hard-fought win (37:33) against Poland in the last game of Group A of the preliminary round at Germany/Greece 2023.

Three teams finished the preliminary round on a high on Friday afternoon, securing their third win in as many matches, and will start the main round with two points.

Co-hosts Greece put up a strong showing against Egypt, only to lose against the African team (30:36), while the other co-hosts, Germany, secured a 37:33 win against Algeria.

The biggest surprise was Slovenia's elimination, after a painful 25:38 loss against Sweden, with the Scandinavian side clinching their third win in a row and positioning themselves nicely for a medal run.

• Group A

France vs Poland 37:33 (20:19)

France had a do-or-die match against Poland after losing their first match at Germany/Greece 2023 against Croatia. But Poland used a 5:0 run, spurred by Jakub Sladkowski, to take an 8:5 lead, as France had no answer at the start of the game.

They say characters are revealed in tough situations, and this was exactly what France did in those crucial moments, even without a timeout from their bench. What the reigning champions did was to regroup and especially fine-tune their attack, as their two goalkeepers, Karim Zahaf and Leo Villain, could only muster four saves between them until the 50th minute.

What France did, though, was to excel from the back line. The excellent Mattéo Fadhuile-Crepy, who was once again flawless in the centre back position, was impressively complemented by right back Hugo Pimenta, as the two stalwarts combined for 14 goals between them.

But it could not have played out this way were it not for a pivotal 5:1 run for France, with two goals from Pimenta, at the start of the second half, which helped open a four-goal gap for the reigning champions. Sure, the defence was on shaky ground once again, but Poland did not really find their groove.

While Poland might have cut the gap to only one goal (32:31) with five minutes to go, France's more experienced players delivered blow after blow, enabling their team to seal a crucial win (37:33), which helped the reigning champions extend their hopes in the main round.

Croatia will start the main round group with two points, while France stay in Magdeburg with zero points, as Tunisia and Germany join the Main Round Group I in what projects to be a very tough battle for the two qualifying places for the quarter-finals.

With a draw against Croatia and a tough loss against France, Poland now head to the President's Cup, but they have plenty of talent on display, looking to be one of the teams to beat in that part of the competition.

hummel Player of the Match: Mattéo Fadhuile-Crepy (France)

• Group B

Algeria vs Germany 22:33 (12:15)

A packed Swiss Life Hall in Hanover helped Germany to seal their third straight win at the IHF Men's Junior World Championship, confirming their place in the main round and taking important two points with them. With Germany celebrating the first place in the group, they sent Tunisia among the top 16 teams.

Despite all efforts to win and leapfrog Tunisia in the standings, thus progressing further to the main round, Algerian hope fizzled as the final whistle was approaching. Algeria will continue in the President's Cup, not being able to be placed better than their last performance at the 2017 IHF Men's Junior World Championship, when they finished 14th.

Germany did not have it easy in the first part of the game as Algeria still had their main round dream alive, entering the game in full concentration. The African side had a blistering start as right back Blida Nidhal Eddine Badie scored for a three-goal lead. 

With a strong defence, Algeria could have gone even further, but German goalkeeper Lasse Ludwig produced his best performance and allowed his team to score from fastbreaks. His teammate David Späth joined in the second half, having seven saves out of 17 attempts.

For eight minutes, it seemed like Algeria fell into a black hole, losing their recognisable style and efficiency, which dropped to 46%, and their opponents took advantage of it. From trailing 8:9 to leading 12:9, Germany imposed their rhythm as Tim Freihöfer was leading with six goals from as many attempts.

Five minutes into the second half, Germany's strong 6-0 defence made Algeria sweat, having trouble scoring. On the other side of the court, Germany did not have a problem with Algerian defensive players, as strong back shooters were unstoppable. As time went by, the Germans thoroughly dominated and took a well-deserved win.

hummel Player of the Match: Lasse Ludwig (Germany)

 

 

 

• Group F

Sweden vs Slovenia 38:25 (20:13)

The cracks in Slovenia's armour started to be on display from Thursday on when they salvaged a draw against Bahrain in the last second of the game (29:29) after a very poor display for the European side. That meant that they were facing a must-win situation in the last match of the preliminary round against Sweden, which was always going to be a tough proposition.

With Bahrain taking a 50-goal win over Greenland, Slovenia's position deteriorated even further, and their confidence was totally shattered from a weak start, which Sweden capitalised on, creating a 3:0 run to jump to a four-goal lead (7:3), after only eight minutes, with back Kasper Palmar running the show.

Goalkeeper Alexander Lindén and Palmar truly delivered blow after blow for Slovenia, which failed to get any rhythm in their attack going, as centre back Mitja Janc was seriously limited by a plucky Sweden defence. Therefore, at the break, Slovenia were facing a seven-goal deficit (20:13), which proved to be unassailable for Sweden.

A 7:2 start for Sweden in the second half was just exactly what the Scandinavian side needed to create their cushion, bringing home the third win in a row in Athens with a dominating 38:25 performance, which also secured the first place in the group.

Palmar, the top scorer of the match, finished the game with eight goals, while Lindén saved 11 shots for a 36% efficiency, as the two shined bright for Sweden, which look poised to challenge for a medal at Germany/Greece 2023.

Sweden will now head to the main round with two points and in a position primed to secure a quarter-finals berth, while a dejected Slovenia continue playing in the President's Cup, where they will start with two points, but their objective in the competition has been clearly compromised.

The European side finished tied on points with Bahrain, but due to the draw between the two sides, the next criterion applied, the goal difference, as the Asian team had a +32-goal difference, while Slovenia only boasted a +12-goal difference.

hummel Player of the Match: Felix Möller (Sweden)

• Group H

Egypt vs Greece 36:30 (17:20)

After Saudi Arabia beat Cuba 28:27, the second match in Group H on Friday was also tight and exciting. Despite struggling for much of it, the ambitious Egyptian team turned things around and ultimately won by six goals.

Both teams had secured their progression to the main round before this game, but they fought for important points. Following their third straight win, Egypt won the group and will start the main round with two points, which increases their chances for a higher placement. In turn, co-hosts Greece, who became runners-up, go through with zero points.

Egypt took their first lead in the game only in the 41st minute, as Hisham Doieb made the score 24:23. Before that, Greece were dominant on court, as one of their key players Achilleas Toskas showed his fire power. In the end, he became his team's best scorer with eight goals.

However, he scored six of them before the break, missing quite a few chances in the second half. After the restart, Greece were restricted to just 10 goals, as Egypt seized the initiative and started to show their true quality, especially in defence. 

Mohab Abdelhak and Omar Mohamed became their top scorers with seven goals, and while the Africans led by just one goal (29:28), with 11 minutes to go, they were entirely dominant in the remaining time, sealing a 36:30 win. 

hummel Player of the Match: Mohab Abdelhak (Egypt)