At the fully packed sports hall in Ohrid, Macedonia won 39-16 against Angola to grab the highest win on Matchday 1 of the Men's Junior World Championship, starting today in FYR Macedonia. Kuwait and Egypt managed the biggest of surprise in their first preliminary round matches. Both teams defeated favourites Portugal and France.

 

In Group A, Macedonia showed no mercy for rookies Angola. The match was already decided in the first half and it was just thanks to Angola's goalkeeper Fabio Costa’s ten saves in the first 20 minutes that the margin had not risen more until the halft-time break. The game ended with two red cards. The national team of Kuwait amazingly secured a 32:28 win over Portugal. The Kuwaiti players improved considerably in just a few minutes to take the lead. Seven minutes from the end, Kuwait scored four goals in a row to take home victory.


In Group B Egypt soard to a 27-25 win over France. It was a very tight game with Egypt extending the lead to achieve the highest difference in the first half (four goals). In the last minutes of the first half and the start of the second interval, France became more comfortable to take the lead for the first time on 44 minute. In the second game, Argentina won the opening match against Chile 36:21.

 

Croatia hadn't got any problems facing Bulgaria in Group C in Skopje to secure a 34:17 win. Goalkeeper Luka Bumbak added 18 saves to his credit. Slovenia reached their first win in the WCh tournament outclassing Tunisia 34:24. The Slovenian defence made an excellent job in the second half.


Spain had an easy 37:32 win over Korea. The European team made five goals in a row to break away to 16-9, decisive moment of the game. A euphoric 37:33 win for Brazil against their direct rivals Slovakia in Group D. Both teams committed a large number of errors in the opening phase but Brazil consolidated their defence.