After 3600 hours of playing time in the 60 matches of the four Preliminary Round Groups all decisions have been taken and the fixtures of the eight-finals and the President’s Cup are finally known. Only one match of Friday’s evening sessions was decisive – and thanks to the Icelandic victory over China, the Europeans paved the way for Angola.

As Angola, Iceland and Montenegro finished equal in points, the better goal difference in this internal ranking secured the second place for the African Champion ahead of Montenegro and Iceland.

Group A in Santos:

China – Iceland 16:23 (9:12)

After the two foregoing matches in Preliminary Round Group A the last match was of no significance to the two participating teams from China and Iceland. Nevertheless the game had effects on the ranking of Montenegro and Angola. After Iceland won this game against China 23:16, Angola will be second in Group A, and Montenegro will be third. Iceland had a perfect start with 5:0 after only six minutes and for the rest of the first half China chased this advance of the Scandinavian team. But at the end of the first 30 minutes Iceland was still three goals ahead (12:9). In the second half Iceland dominated the match. Only after 45 minutes, when China caught up to 13:15, the victory was temporarily in danger. But then the Scandinavian girls scored four times in a row and the match was pre-decided. Best scorer of the match was Dagny Skuladottir from Iceland with eight goals.

Group B in Barueri:

Russia – Kazakhstan 34:19 (13:13)

The last match of the preliminary round Russia no longer took seriously. They had already been known as the winner of Group B and played against Kazakhstan, who had already been determined to go to the President’s Cup. Nevertheless in the end Russia won clearly 34:19, but played a very bad first half. Kazakhstan kept up the whole first 30 minutes and made it to a 13:13 draw. But after the break the Russian team played as they usually used to play. Kazakhstan only scored six times during the second half and the defending champion from Russia made it clear with a 15-goal difference. Best scorer was the Russian player Emilia Turei with seven goals.

Group C in Sao Paulo:

Brazil – Tunisia 34:33 (16:20)

The entertainment factor was high for the spectators, who saw the high number of in total 67 goals including the decisive one by goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart, and who celebrated the fifth victory of the host of the World Championship. Aside Brazil, only Russia and Denmark took the optimum of ten points – which means an even greater success for the host, which secured a lucky win after a great catch-up race. But the Tunisians received applause, too, as they were a tough opponent and showed a great will to take their second victory in this tournament and wanted to prepare for their President’s Cup opener against Uruguay. Brazil has two days of rest, before they play their eight-final match against Ivory Coast in Sao Paulo on Monday.

The game hasn’t had any effect on the final ranking, as Brazil had been winner of this Group already and Tunisia could not proceed to a better rank than the fifth position. But the Africans wanted to grab their chance, as the host did not play with their top team and on their top level from the beginning. Most of the time Tunisia was in lead, but in the second half Brazil – cheered by their spectators – re-started their engines.

By scoring four straight goals they equalized at 20:20, but the Tunisian resistance was not broken – in contrast: the Africans again extended the gap to 28:24, especially thanks to the ten goals of top scorer Rafika Marzouk. Then the Brazilian catch-up race started: Five minutes before the end they equalized again at 31:31, before Tunisia took the lead twice. In the final minute goalkeeper Barbara Arenhart scored the decisive goal for the fifth victory by counterattack. Best Brazilian scorer was Francine Moraes with eight goals.

Group D in Sao Bernardo do Campo:

Croatia – Argentina 23:18 (9:11) 

Croatia was close to a disgrace for nearly 40 minutes, but then turned the match of no relevance against Argentina and took their fourth victory in their fifth match. The “Gauchas” could hope for their first win in this World Championship as they kept the lead until 13:12 against a Croatian “second team”. The Balkans saved power for their eight-final against Romania and tried to avoid injuries – but their performance was absolutely weak. When coach Vladimir Canjuga ordered his first row on the field at the start of the second half-time the Croats improved, equalized at 13:13 and then decided the game in only ten more minutes, when the score was 19:14. Croatia had been known as second-ranked team in this group before the match, whilst Argentina finishes last and will meet Cuba in their first match of the President’s Cup. Top scorers were Maja Zebic (six goals for Croatia) and Magdalena Decilio (four goals for Argentina).