Korea – Denmark 25:22 (11:10)

Korea qualifies for quarter-final

The first eight-final of this Junior World Championship between Korea and Denmark was really a thrilling one. The Asian team won 25:22 at the end, but it was a tough piece of work for them to beat the strong Danish team. In the beginning of this match Denmark was constantly leading during nearly the complete first half. The first Korean lead came after 29 minutes and three seconds when Joo Eun Park scored for 11:10. This was the last goal before the break. In the first twenty minutes the match was completely balanced, both teams played on eye level so that the score after 52 minutes was 19:19. But then Korea scored three times in a row. And also Denmark didn’t wait long to catch up to 22:23. But this was not enough as Korea scored another two goals during the last minute of the match and took the victory. Korea, whose best player Mi Seul Han sored seven times, will now play the quarter-final against France; Denmark will play their first match in the placement round against Romania.

Czech Republic – Hungary 16:30 (7:15)

The host says good-bye

Not a good day for the host of this Junior World Championship: After 60 one-sided minutes the team of the Czech Republic lost it´s match in the eight-final with 16:30 against Hungary and is now facing the first match of the placement round for the places 9 to 16 against Brazil. Hungary will meet in the quarter-final Poland. Hungary just needed 30 strong minutes with a very good performance in defense to beat the Czech team. During the first half they built up a 15:7 lead. In the second half, all efforts of the host, to come back into this match again, were in vain. After all it was a clear and well-deserved victory for Hungary, whose best player Fruzsina Palko scored nine times.

Romania – France 14:20 (5:9)

Victory of efficiency 

France is going to the quarter-final: In a match that was dominated by two strong defenses the French team beat Romania with 20:14 and is now heading the next round of the knockout stages against Korea. During the first 20 minutes it was a match of two equal competitors. Both teams could rely on a good defense and two excellent goalkeepers, so the result of 5:5 was quiet logical. But in the final phase of the first half France scored four times in a row – the last goal was scored two seconds before the break – while Romania was hitting against bar and post. So it was 9:5 after the first 30 minutes. The match wasn´t decided yet, but the morale of the Romanian team was broken. So France built up a bigger lead and won well-deserved at the end. Romania as a looser of this match will go on in the placement round for the places 9 to 16. Their first opponent will be Denmark. Best scorer of this match was Grace Zaadi (France) with six goals.

Brazil – Poland 20:23 (9:13)

Surprise in Brno 

The eight-final between Brazil and Poland ended with a big surprise. The Team of Poland beat the Pan-Americans with 23:20 and is now heading the quarter-final against Hungary, while Brazil has to play against the host of this Junior World Championship, Czech Republic. Poland laid the fountain stone for this unexpected victory during the first half of the match. After the first 30 minutes the European team was in lead with 13:9 as of their very strong performance. Brazil as the winner of preliminary group D couldn´t recover from this setback during the second half of this match although they made it up to 15:15 draw after 40 minutes. But Poland always had the right answers and subsequently scored four times in a row (19:15). The match was pre-decided. Best scorer of this match was – once again – Emilia Galinska with seven goals.