Main Round Group 1

On Tuesday evening the Main Round Group 1 of the WCh in Sweden came to an end in Jönköping. The tension regarding the three final matches however had already decreased, as France as well as Spain had already qualified for the semi-finals after the second match day. Both teams had achieved to qualify for the Main Round with three plus points; in the Main Round both teams also defeated Hungary, Norway and Iceland mostly without any problems. In the end the two top teams both had 9:1 points and one draw in the direct encounter, so that the goal difference was decisive. France who were luckier at the end will now play against Sweden in the first semi-final in Malmö on Friday evening. The host team of Sweden can count on the unlimited support of their fellow countrymen; the French – Olympic Champion of 2008, World Champion of 2009 and European Champion of 2010 – are however regarded as favourites. The Spaniards, who weren’t necessarily among the semi-final candidates prior to the WCh, will meet Denmark in the second semi-final in Kristianstad.

What was by far more exciting than the decision in terms of group victory was the fight for the tickets for the Olympic qualification tournament. The Germans surprisingly were the first team to say goodbye. They were forced to win, but finally had to admit defeat (25:35) to the Norwegian team which had nothing to lose any more, given their zero points from the previous Main Round matches. The disappointing team of the German Handball Federation, together with the Norwegians, will thus travel to Kristianstad where Germany will play the placement match 11/12 against Argentina on Thursday and Norway will fight for the ninth place against Serbia afterwards.

Without any effort on their part Iceland secured the third place in the Main Round Group 1 on Tuesday, benefitting from the Hungarian 24:30 defeat against Spain. The Hungarians had been close to the third place, as they had surprisingly beaten Germany 27:25 in the second Main Round match after their excepted defeat against France. Thus they had four plus points prior to the group final – like Iceland. As the Icelanders had won the direct encounter in the Preliminary Round, Hungary could only finish fourth after their defeat against Spain. Iceland’s failure against France (28:34) was of no significance. Hungary will now meet Poland in the placement match 7/8; only the winner will directly qualify for the Olympic qualification tournament. Those who will definitely take part in a qualification tournament are Iceland and Croatia who will compete for the fifth place.