The 3rd Women´s Youth World Championship in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) started today with the first group matches. The opening match in group B was a neck-and-neck race between Japan and Uruguay, which resulted in a clear 34:27 victory of Japan, thanks to a strong performance of the goalkeeper. After the first 30 minutes in the Handball Pavillon, the team of Uruguay was leading with a close 13:12, but during the second half the Japanese women, being down 15:16, started their catch-up race and led 18:16 after 37 minutes, whereas Uruguay received a double suspension. Nevertheless, Uruguay showed its fighting spirit and achieved the draw (22:22) within only ten minutes. Afterwards the Japanese team ran over the South American players, decided the match after 55 minutes (29:22) and went on to the clear victory of 34:27.

In group A, the Netherlands played their first match against Argentina. The South-American team started quite well and took a 4:2 lead after eight minutes. During the first 18 minutes, both teams were neck and neck and had big scoring opportunities, but in the following period the Netherlands turned the match around from 6:7 to 11:7. Afterwards, the European team decided the match already at the end of the first half and went into half time with a 17:9 lead. In the second half, the Argentinean team couldn’t keep up with the Dutch team either, which extended its lead to 27:12 after 45 minutes. At the end, the Netherlands won 33:20 and thus started successfully into this tournament.

In group C, the Swedish national team didn’t have any trouble beating the team of the Democratic Republic of Congo clearly 44:18. Congo didn’t have the slightest chance, and the Swedish team needed only 30 minutes to seal the win, leading 22:8. After this satisfying start, Sweden will have a rest day tomorrow whereas Congo will play against Hungary.

The second match of the first round in group A, which was very close, was won by Angola 23:22. In the first half, Angola showed a very strong performance and led 10:9 after 30 minutes. In the beginning they took a 8:5 lead, but then Germany caught up and equalized one minute before the break (9:9). Afterwards they missed the next scoring opportunity and ran into an Angolan fast break ten seconds before half time. During the second half, the teams were neck and neck. After 49 minutes, Germany took the first three-goal lead (20:17) in the second period. They came close to win this match, but in a spectacular finish of this match, Angola equalized one minute before the end (22:22) and scored the golden goal only seven seconds before the end.
 
The Spanish team enjoyed a very lucky start to this tournament and won the first match in group D against Korea 27:26. Spain played very well in the first half and led 18:11, when the teams changed sides. During the last 15 minutes, Korea came closer goal by goal, but at the end Spain kept a one-goal lead and gained two very important points.
 
The Brazilian team scored a clear 42:13 victory that wasn’t threatened at any time against the team of Thailand. Already after the first period, the South American girls led 19:4 and encountered only little resistance. This didn’t change after the break, as the Brazilians extended their lead goal by goal. Brazil is now leading the field in Group D after the first day. While Brazil will pause on the second day, Thailand will meet Korea in the duel of the losers of the first round.