The 2016 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship placement round 9-16 matches began with Brazil recording a decisive win against Spain to secure 11th on the final ranking, while Japan defeated Argentina in the 15/16 play-off. 

In the second placement match of the day in CSKA Palace of Sport the Netherlands won against Hungary in a match decided on penalties after the teams could not be separated through the 60 minutes – or a first round of penalty shots. 

The second game played in Dynamo saw France beat Angola by a 12-goal margin, which means they finish 13th. 

CSKA Palace of Sport, Tuesday 12 July
Placement match 9/10: Netherlands vs Hungary 38:37 (34:34)(30:30)(17:15)

A level contest was expected between these two teams and they delivered with an exciting 60 minutes that ended with two penalty shoot-outs after which the score was still level, which meant the final result was decided with a sudden-death win for the Netherlands. 

When the match began both teams took some time to perfect their defence and there were several goals from the line early on as they did so. At the 10-minute mark it was a one-for-one game before the Netherlands opened up a two-goal advantage with right wing Jill Meijer’s second goal (7:5). Gabriella Toth scored a penalty to decrease the deficit to one, while her team played well-organised attack but struggled to get the ball past Netherlands keeper Rinka Duijndam. 

The Netherlands capitalised on Duijndam’s performance with several fast breaks that created a three-goal advantage just before the 15-minute mark (9:6), but Hungary came within one only a minute later with a goal from Konszuela Hamori. Netherlands coach Alex Vaassen called a time-out with the score at 9:8, and after that his team began to increase their advantage. 

By the 22nd minute the Netherlands were three in front at 12:9, but Hungary scored two consecutive goals to come back within one with five minutes left in the period. As the first half came to an end the one-goal difference remained before the Netherlands added a late goal to end the half with a two-goal lead.  

When the match resumed the Netherlands quickly increased their lead to four adding mainly fast break goals, and at the 40-minute mark the score stood at 24:20. With 15 minutes left they were still in front at 25:21, and the same difference remained just before the 50th minute. 

At that point it seemed the Netherlands would be able to keep a comfortable lead through to the final whistle as they appeared firmly in control, but within a matter of minutes Hungary capitalised on their numerical advantage when the Dutch were one down due to a suspension. They came within one then equalised with two successive long-range goals as the Netherlands took out Duijndam in favour of adding an extra attacker, prompting Vaassen to call a time-out with the score level at 28:28 in the 55th. 

Neither team could find the goal for several minutes until Anouk Zwinkels added a breakthrough goal with just over two minutes left. A two-minute suspension for Annefleur Bruggeman, which led to a red card as she already had two suspensions to her name, seemed an ominious sign for the Dutch. Toth equalised on the resulting penalty before left wing Fanni Gerhath took the Netherlands one in front as the clock entered the final 60 seconds. 

Duijndam made a crucial save that stopped Hungary’s last attack, and the Netherlands had possession with 30 seconds remaining – but an attacker foul earned Hungary the ball and they scored yet another long-range goal to equalise and send the match into a penalty shoot-out. 

After two rounds of five shots each, after which the score was still level, the match went to sudden death. The game was decided when Duijndam saved Szidonia Puhalak’s shot, and the Netherlands celebrated an exciting win that earns them ninth place on the final ranking. 

Placement match 11/12: Spain vs Brazil 25:33 (11:15)

Brazil were expected to be able to record a comfortable win in this meeting, and they wasted little time in doing so. Midway through the half the score was level at 6:6, but in the next five minutes the Pan American team began to put in the difference to lead 10:7 by the 20th. 

As the match progressed all the momentum was behind Brazil, who made controlling the game seem effortless, while Spain struggled against the Pan American side’s defence and made a number of unforced attacking errors. It was not Brazil’s most perfect performance at Russia 2016, but they were confident and relaxed as they increased their advantage to five goals at 14:9 with just under five minutes left in the period. 

The distance remained five goals at the break, and in the second half that score line remained until the 35th minute (19:15) when Brazil began to further increase their hold on the game. With nine goals from Bruna De Paula at 100% accuracy, and several players on their roster contributing three or more, Brazil continued to pull further in front as the buzzer approached. 

With 15 minutes left they hit an eight-goal advantage at 27:19, and at the final whistle they retained that same lead to secure 11th on the final ranking, while Spain finish 12th. 

Sport Palace Dynamo Krylatskoe, Tuesday 12 July
Placement match 13/14: France vs Angola 35:23 (15:9)

France ended their Russia 2016 campaign on a spectacular high, winning their play-off with a 12-goal advantage thanks to exceptional performances from goalkeeper Cira Lo, who made 15 saves from 27 shots to finish with a rate of 55.6%, and back Oceane Sercien Ugolin, who contributed eight goals to the win. 

Angola’s stand-out star was Vilma Pegado Nenganga with 11 goals, though her effort was not enough to help her side defeat the European team. 

After a level first five minutes France put in a 5:0 run to move four ahead by the 15-minute mark (9:5), then after Angola scored a few in response the European side recorded another five consecutive goals while keeping the African team scoreless. By the 25th minute France led 14:7, and at the break they retained a six-goal lead. 

In the first 16 minutes of the second half Sercien Ugolin was on fire, scoring five goals in that period as France took the score to 28:14. At that point the outcome of the match was decided, though France continued pushing to finish with a 12-goal lead and 13th on the final ranking, while Angola rank 14th. 

Placement match 15/16: Argentina vs Japan 24:28 (14:15)

After coming so close to a quarter-final berth, losing their eighth-final to Romania by just one goal, Japan finished their Russia 2016 campaign on a high to rank 15th overall, while Argentina are 16th. For both teams the result is an improvement on their ranking at the previous edition in 2014, where Japan finished 17th and Argentina were 20th. 

Argentina opened the game far stronger than Japan, allowing the Asian team only three goals in the first 10 minutes while they moved ahead to a 6:3 lead. At that point Rosario Urban had already contributed four of her eight goals, and five minutes later she had added two more for an advantage of 9:5 to Argentina. 

The Pan American side increased the difference by two more goals to put the score at 13:7 in the 20th, before the tide rapidly turned in Japan’s favour. In the last 10 minutes of the half Argentina scored just once, courtesy of Urban, while Japan added eight to take a one-goal lead into the break. 

Japan returned after the break to record a 5:1 run through the first eight minutes that decided the match (20:15). Argentina warmed back into the game but were unable to close the deficit as the clock wound down, and with five minutes left when Japan retained a comfortable advantage at 25:19 it was clear they would hold on to claim 15th place.