Women’s Competition
DR Congo – Thailand 36:28 (15:18)
It was a demonstration of “run and gun” handball in the first half of the match between DR Congo and Thailand, as none of the teams were concentrated on defence, but with fast game they tried to score more goals than their opponents. The Thai girls established a control of the result very early, but could not increase the difference, as the African IHF Trophy winner always found a way back into the match. 
The second half continued in the same style, but this time it was DR Congo that had better control in the fast-paced game and in the 45th minute the scoreboard showed 24:24. From this moment on, there was one team on the court, as the team from Africa was completely dominating the game, closing it with a clear 36:28 win. With this second victory, the team from DR Congo is placing itself as one of the main contenders for winning the II IHF InterContinental IHF Trophy, while Thailand will have to fight really hard in order to secure a place on the podium.
The best player and scorer for Thailand was Bunjarern Pawinee with 7 goals, while the inspiration behind DR Congo’s comeback was Laetitia Mumbala Mayunga who found the back of the Thai net 11 times.
 

Australia – Bulgaria 21:37 (9:16)
The team from Oceania was a match for their opponents only in the first ten minutes of the game, and then Bulgaria took complete control of the game, making a good impression on their first appearance of the InterContinental Phase of the IHF Trophy. After the initial ten minutes, they constantly increased their lead to make it 9:16 on half time.
In the second half, the driving force of the Australian team, Madeleine McAfee, made an attempt to bring her team back into the game but the quality of the Bulgarian team prevailed as they cruised to an easy 21:37 victory.
Just like yesterday Madeleine McAfee was the best scorer of the Australian team, scoring 9 goals this time while Stanislava Dimitrova marked 7 times for Bulgaria.
 

 

Men’s Competition
Mexico – Moldova 22:29 (11:16)
The home team started the game very enthusiastically but the quality and mostly the physical advantage of the Moldovan team came quickly on the surface in this game that showed quality handball to the 500 spectators in the Nuevo Leon Unido Area in Monterrey, Mexico. Thanks to their strong back line, the European outfit was constantly building an advantage over the first 30 minutes that ended in 11:16.
In the first 5 minutes of the second half, Mexico cheered by their fans tried to find a way in the game, but the Moldovan back line proved to be their strongest weapon once again. They kept making pressure on the Mexican defence and their advantage was constantly increasing until the end of the game. They finally managed to win 22:29, but the last ten minutes of the game had some spectacular handball to the delight of the handball fans in Monterrey. This was the second win for Moldova and now Uzbekistan and Nigeria are the only teams standing between them and claiming the title in the II InterContinental IHF Trophy.
Emilano Contreras was on the top of the scorers' list for Mexico with 7 goals, while Victor Vartic scored 8 times for the Moldovans followed by 7 goals from the man of the match Roman Zacaiurin.
 

 
Nigeria – Uzbekistan 36:26 (19:12)
In the first half Uzbekistan managed to keep a level score only in the first five minutes when the score was 3:3, and after that the champion of the African Continental Phase took control of the game increasing first to five goals after twenty minutes, and then even to increase the gap to seven goals – 19:12 at half time.
In the first 15 minutes of the second half time Uzbekistan had several chances to close the gap to 4 goals, but the Nigerian defence withstood the attacks of the fast Uzbek team. As the game was moving into the later stages the better physical condition of the Nigerian players became obvious and they won the game clearly 36:26, which was the biggest goal difference they had in the entire game.
Mohamed Naziru scored 8 goals for Nigeria and Mirzarahim Roziboyev with 6 goals was on the top of the Uzbek scorers' list, but the best player from Uzbekistan was by far their goalkeeper Bekzod Karimov who had 14 saves in this game.