The 2016 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship semi-finals have arrived with two exciting clashes expected. The unbeaten Russian Federation play Germany in the first semi-final match in Sport Palace Dynamo Krylatskoe, before the current European champions in this age category – Denmark – meet Romania. 

Prior to the semi-finals four teams take to the court to play the first round of 5-8 placement round matches, with Korea playing Norway and Sweden versus Croatia. 

All games will be streamed free and live here. 

Sport Palace Dynamo Krylatskoe, Thursday 14 July
Semi-final: Germany vs Russian Federation 17:30 local time

Germany and the Russian Federation enter this match on the back of very different quarter-final wins. The hosts had little trouble defeating Norway in their quarter-final on Tuesday 12 July, winning by a comfortable 11-goal margin after holding a two-goal advantage at half-time. 

The match continued the home team’s unbeaten streak at Russia 2016, where they stormed through the group phase to finish at the top of their table, won their eighth-final encounter 31:20 against Argentina, then defeated the Scandinavian team to qualify for the semi-finals. With such results so far Russia are looking very strong, and it is clear it will take a tough team to beat them. 

Germany played an 80-minute-plus quarter-final against Korea in CSKA Palace of Sport on Tuesday, with the teams unable to be separated through the 60 minutes of regular playing time and a score of 26:26 at the buzzer. The match therefore proceeded into not one but two periods of extra time, and the score was still level at 30:30 then 33:33, before Germany won in a penalty shoot-out. 

Despite their exceptional win in the quarter-final, the odds are stacked against Germany to defeat Russia on a home court – particularly given the form of the host’s starts such as Yaroslava Frolova, Yulia Golikova and Antonina Skorobogatchenko. 

Semi-final: Denmark vs Romania 20:00 local time

The stage is set for an exciting meeting between the Women’s 19 EHF EURO 2015 champions Denmark and the same generation of Romania players who raised the 2014 IHF Women’s Youth (U18) World Championship trophy two years ago. The quality of players running through these squads is clearly high, and the 60 minutes between them will likely be quite close.

Romania’s key players in this encounter will be Cristina Laslo – their top scorer at Russia 2016, with 41 goals so far, Alina Ilie, who has contributed 33 to their campaign, and goalkeeper Yuliya Dumanska. Dumanska has made 88 saves at a rate of 45.8%.

Denmark’s squad boasts perhaps more depth than Romania’s, with almost every player on their roster having contributed a significant number of goals to their Russia 2016 campaign. Mai Kragballe Nielsen is their top scorer so far with 45 goals at 75% accuracy, while goalkeeper Althea Rebecca Reinhart has so far saved the same number of shots as Dumanska (88), but at a higher rate of 50% – an incredible percentage for seven matches played. 

Placement round 5-8: 
Korea vs Norway 12:30 local time

Korea and Norway are both nursing disappointment as they enter the placement round, though for Korea the quarter-final defeat was somewhat more heart-breaking as it was decided with only one goal in a penalty shoot-out after 80 minutes of playing time. 

It will nevertheless be an exciting game with two fast-paced teams who favour counter attacks, which should mean a high-scoring match. 

Sweden vs Croatia 15:00 local time

This match is a similar story to the Korea-Norway meeting, with Croatia suffering a one-goal defeat against Romania in their quarter-final while Sweden lost decisively at the hands of their Scandinavian rivals Denmark (15:22). 

These sides have been exceptional fighters with a tactical approach to each match that showcased a high standard of play throughout the group phase and knock-out round, though the edge for this game may sit with Croatia due to their stronger performance in the quarter-final.