Cuba vs. Congo 23:41 (15:18)

It was a big surprise in the first day of match day 3 in Almaty, as until now the only team without victory managed to overrun Cuba and destroy their chances of qualifying for the final. But it wasn't a one sided match from the very beginning. Cuba was a decent opponent and until half time they were still into play to win the match trailing by only 3 goals. But as the second half opened, it was only one way traffic as Congo dominated the match until the very end and bringing it to a close with a 23:41. It was Mambou Suzanne Bellette leading the corers in the Congo team with 9 goals, while Beltran Caballero scored 5 times in the Cuban team.


Kazakhstan vs. Finland 26:34 (13:18)
Finland secured a place in the final as they managed to beat the host Kazakhstan and ended up as table leaders after the preliminary round of the I Womens IHF InterContinental Trophy. It was a clear match from start to finish as the European Winner were in control during the entire period of the match. Led by Hilli Johanna who in the end had nine goals Finland had a secure lead of 5 goals by halftime so in he second half they routinely brought the match to the end, winning 36:34. The 8 goals scored by Alexandrova and the 7 by Latkina were not enough for the host team to parry the Finnish and attacks, so they had to satisfy with a 2nd place in the preliminary round, and a place in the Final against the same opponent.


Placement after the preliminary round