The second day of 2018 IHF Women’s Youth (U18) World Championship matches saw Montenegro defeat Chile to claim 17th place, Slovakia beat Argentina to rank 19th, Angola claim 21st with a win over China, and Egypt place 23rd after a victory over Kazakhstan.

17/18 placement match: Chile vs Montenegro 16:30 (7:15)

Montenegro had little trouble finishing their Poland 2018 campaign with a strong win that saw them claim 17th place on the final ranking – and with it, the President’s Cup. Thanks to a solid defensive performance and great games from their goalkeepers, Montenegro forged ahead to hold a clear advantage at half-time.

The European side’s strength was already clear after one quarter of the match, when they led 8:3, and as they hit a 10-goal advantage (18:8) seven minutes into the second period, there was no doubt they would take the victory. Montenegro’s goalkeepers both saved at least 40% of the shots against them, with Anastasija Babovic recording 40% and Danica Pandurevic finishing on 46%. Milica Raicevic scored six goals to lead her side in attack.

“In the last three games we have gained additional experience. Thanks to that, we took a big step to play better. Maybe we win more in the next tournament,” said Montenegro coach Bojana Popovic. “Today we worked hard, we won the President's Cup and we are very happy about it.”

Players of the match:

Chile: Fernanda Alvarez
Montenegro: Milica Raicevic

19/20 placement match: Slovakia vs Argentina 29:28 (24:24)(11:8)

The 19/20 play-off saw a tight contest that could not be decided in 60 minutes. As per the regulations for the President’s Cup matches, the game was decided in a penalty shoot-out once regular playing time ended with a level score. It was a save from Slovakia goalkeeper Bella Olahova that decided the outcome on the first shot of the shoot-out, as she stopped Carolina Bono’s attempt before the remainder were scored.

Following a slower start than their opponents, Argentina fought their way back from a three-goal deficit at half-time. The Pan American side trailed through the last 20 minutes of the first period but were quick to level the game with the first three goals after the break. The Pan American side then turned the tide of the match completely, pulling ahead to lead by four goals with four minutes left on the clock – a comfortable advantage that could have seen them take the win. However, Slovakia recorded a 5:1 run through the final minutes to send the game into the shoot-out.

Players of the match:

Slovakia: Lenka Ratvajska 
Argentina: Martina Bohner

21/22 placement match: Angola vs China 22:18 (13:7)

The first meeting between these two teams saw both coming into the game on the back of their first wins, yesterday against Slovakia (Angola) and Kazakhstan (China).

On paper at least, Angola looked the more likely to take the victory and they showed why, racing to a 5:0 lead after just seven minutes. China coach Bin Zhang had taken a time out at 4:0 which stemmed the flow a little as key player Mengxue Zhou started to warm up with three goals in three minutes, making it 6:3 in the 13th, but with just a further four from her side for the remainder of the half, a six-goal (13:7) deficit at the break proved too much to overcome in the end.

The final ranking of 21st is the worst-ever at this level for Angola, while 22nd for China is their second worst, so it was unsurprising that neither coach was too happy with the past two weeks in Poland.

"I’m not satisfied with the results of our matches here," said China head coach Bin Zhang. "We only played very during the game with the Netherlands and there is a big gap between us and the strong teams at the same age, but it has been a good chance for us to learn a lot."

"We had a really good first half and played well - especially in defence," said Danilo Gagliard Junior, coach of Angola. "Our second half wasn’t so good as we had lots of turnovers."

Best players of the match: Isabel Marcelino TCHITONGUA (ANG), Yue TANG (CHN)

23/24 placement match: Egypt vs Kazakhstan 31:25 (15:13)
Neither team had won a point at Poland 2018 and neither team wanted the tag of finishing last, so all was to play for in the early morning match-up between Africa and Asia.

Either position for both teams was already their lowest ranking in the championship history but with just one previous appearance for Egypt, it is too early to start historical comparisons.

What can be concluded from this match is that after an even first half with both sides leading at different times, the second half saw much more of the same until a 5:0 run from Egypt at the end - when they were just one goal up (26:25, 53rd minute) - which saw them win by six.

21 of their 31 goals were from either the nine or six metre line as the shooting prowess and directness of Egypt proved to be the undoing of the Kazakhs.

Best players of the match: Rana MOHAMED RADY AHMED (EGY), Kristina STEPANOVA (KAZ)