In the opening match of the second day in Group C, Brazil struggled again but had a happy ending as they claimed their first two points after a thrilling match against Tunisia (23:22). Russia once again demonstrated their power and took a four-goal win in an intense match against Montenegro (28:24) and Denmark recovered well from yesterday’s loss and showed their quality in the match of the day in Oldenburg. Japan stood no chance against the Danish defence and attack, losing the match 18:32 to a strong opponent from Denmark.

With the second win in a row Russia take the lead in Group C followed by Brazil, Montenegro and Denmark. Japan rest on fifth place, while Tunisia are still waiting for their first points to get.

 

Tunisia vs Brazil 22:23 (13:10)

 

It must have felt like a déjà-vu for the Brazil side as they trailed by four goals early in the match against Tunisia (2:6). Led by yesterday’s top scorer Mouna Chebbah the Tunisia side always were one step ahead of Brazil’s defence. Although the 2013 world champions had loads of opportunities they either missed the goal or the shots were stopped by goalkeeper Echraf Abdallah. However, the team from Spaniard Jorge Duenas got back in the game and were only one behind (9:10) after 22 minutes.

Nevertheless, Tunisia kept the lead for the major part of the game and even had a five-goal lead 15 minutes close to the end. In front of 2,371 spectators Brazil turned the match around as the momentum was with the South American team, closing the gap to 18:20. After five minutes without a goal it was player of the match Mouna Chebbah who ended the Tunisian drought (21:19). However, Tunisia could not stop Brazil to finally level (21:21) with only eight minutes left on the clock.

A nice block resulting in a counter attack and goal by Samira Rocha plus the penalty goal from Ana Belo sealed the deal for Brazil’s first two points since right wing Amal Hamrouni lost the duel against goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart only one minute before the match ended. “We have to look on the positive side,” said Arenhart after the match, “we got two more points. Tunisia came out very strong and fought hard. We haven’t changed so much but we will try to focus on the next match to change more and play better.”

Although the disappointment was all over Chebbahs face she looks positively towards the next matches: “We won’t change something for the next matches because we played amazing. We have so many young players and we have to believe in ourselves and our quality.”

 

Montenegro vs Russia 24:28 (12:15)

 

From the very beginning it was a rough encounter between yesterday’s two winners Montenegro and Russia. No team could get ahead of the other with an ever-changing lead. A good performance by Russian goalkeeper Viktoria Kalinina and quick goals from player of the match Daria Dmitrieva brought Russia in front, leading with three goals at half-time. “Montenegro was a strong opponent and we know, that the match wouldn’t be easy,” said Kalinina.

The Montenegrin side showed their quality, never giving up and being back in the game when Katarina Bulatovic levelled at 21:21 with ten minutes more to go. But then it was Elena Utkina between the posts who saved a decisive penalty from Jovanka Radicevic. Although Russia failed to score their penalty, Anna Vyakhireva stole the ball from Montenegro’s attack and Yulia Markova netted in, resulting in a 26:23 lead. It was Markova again who scored on empty goal, finishing the match 28:24.

“We had problems with the Russian goalkeeper. We had a lot of good chances but missed too many of them. Nevertheless we never gave up and levelled at 21:21 and 23:23. But in the end we produced too many mistakes so Russia could take the win,” commentated Montenegrin coach Per Johansson the outcome of the match. „This loss was not the beginning or the end of something. We will continue with our performance and prepare ourselves for the next game,” added Durdina Malovic.

 

Japan vs Denmark 18:32 (5:16)

 

In the last match of Group C in Oldenburg, Denmark faced Japan who took Brazil by surprise yesterday with a 28:28 tie. The Denmark side was warned and highly motivated after their loss against Montenegro. Both sides showed tactical cleverness. While the record Olympic champions played with seven players in attack, Japan tried to get Denmark out of their rhythm with a very offensive 5-1 defence.

But Japan could only keep up with the Danes for ten minutes. Then the team from Klavs Bruun Jørgensen showed their quality both in defence and attack. While right wing Simone Bøhme scored the first ten-goal lead for Denmark (14:4) it took Japan more than 18 minutes to finally get the ball into the goal again and the match was already decided at half time. Denmark, led by player of the match Stine Jørgensen, won by 14 goals.

“The ten percentage extra we failed to give yesterday, we put on top today. We had a high level of respect for Japan who could physically keep up with Brazil but we we’re prepared,” said Denmark coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen after their victory. After Japan’s first defeat they will face Montenegro on Tuesday. Player Sakura Kametani is positive about the encounter: “We played good against Montenegro before, so we try to focus on the things we did well against Brazil.”