The Russian Federation and Denmark recorded wins on the first day of Placement Round matches at the 22nd IHF Women's Handball World Championship, and will therefore meet for the 5/6 play-off. Montenegro and France will play the 7/8 play-off match.

Jyske Bank BOXEN, Herning
France vs Russian Federation 25:31 (8:15)

Russia got back to winning ways as they defeated a lacklustre French side in Herning to go through to a 5/6 Placement Match against either Montenegro or Denmark on Sunday (20 December).

Russia, now qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Qualification Tournaments to take place in March 2016, were clearly the superior team for large parts of the match as France suffered under the glare of the lights in the Jyske Bank BOXEN.

You had to look twice at the scoresheet after 23 minutes as Evgeniy Trefilov's side had raced to an 11:3 lead thanks to a 7:0 run which had started 11 minutes earlier and featured three strikes from Olga Chernoivanenko.

At half-time, Alain Portes' side had done little to affect the score as Russia went in 15:8 up and despite an early 3:0 run from his side after half-time, they came no closer than three goals throughout the half as Gnosniane Niombla, one of France's highlights of Denmark 2015 to date, was show a red card after receiving her third two-minute penalty late on.

To cap off a bad day at the office for the French, star player and world handball icon Allison Pineau slipped on court and turned over on her left ankle, but after treatment she walked off court and appeared to be in no trouble at the end of the match.

Top scorer for France was Grace Zaadi, returning to the squad after coming as a replacement overnight, whilst for Russia Anna Vyakhereva finished on six.

Best Player of the Match Presented by adidas: Anna VYAKHEREVA (RUS) - Right Wing

Montenegro vs Denmark 20:28 (11:15)

Denmark were the first to score with a goal from right wing Trine Ostergaard followed immediately by a save from Rikke Poulsen, setting the tone early for the 60 minutes that would follow. An outside goal from Stine Jorgensen put Denmark 2:0 in front early in the second minute, and it was the left back who struck again in the sixth to take the hosts further ahead at 3:0.

Poulsen, who has been crucial for Denmark in all their matches, was once again outstanding, saving a penalty off Katarina Bulatovic in the eighth minute and keeping Montenegro from scoring until Milena Raicevic finally found the goal in the ninth to decrease Denmark’s lead to 1:3.

From there the momentum almost seemed to shift, with Majda Mehmedovic the next to score on a fast break in the 11th before Kristina Kristiansen pulled Denmark in front to 4:2 with a trademark ground shot. But Raicevic responded and it was clear Montenegro had at least settled into the game, even though Denmark would continue to dominate.

Stine Jorgensen scored her third and fourth – two penalty goals – on either side of the 13th minute to increase Denmark’s advantage to 6:3, and Poulsen made another save as Montenegro began to make some changes. Goalkeeper Marina Rajcic substituted out for Alma Hasanic to come in, who was promptly pummelled with more Danish goals as the Scandinavian team claimed an 8:3 advantage midway through the half. Montenegro coach Dragan Adzic was finally forced to admit his team could not pull themselves up, and called a time-out.

Montenegro were first to score after the short break with Suzana Lazovic converting a neat play to a 4:8 score line, but at the 20-minute mark Denmark still retained a decisive advantage at 10:5. The home team were firmly in control as the half entered its final 10 minutes and they maintained their lead through to half-time, with Poulsen’s exceptional 56% save rate with 14 saves out of 25 shots for the first period a clear indication of where Montenegro were having trouble.

When the match resumed it seemed nothing could stop Denmark. Stine Jorgensen gave Denmark a 20:14 advantage just after the 40th minute with another penalty goal, and when they hit a 10-goal lead with just under five minutes left it was clear Montenegro could not come back.

Best Player of the Match presented by adidas: Rikke POULSEN (DEN) Goalkeeper