Showdown in Ostrava

The final matches will be staged on Saturday to mark the end of the Women’s Junior World Championship in Czech Republic. France and Sweden, which qualified for the final, to a large extent performed inspiring handball to win their games and were able to constantly improve their performance in the course of the tournament.

 

This is particularly valid for the Swedes, who had trouble getting into the tournament although they had to be one of the favourites due to their WCh title earned at the Youth WCh in the Dominican Republic two years ago. After their somewhat bumpy ride during the preliminaries the Swedes attained best form as from the quarter-finals at the latest when they outclassed Russia during one half at will to secure a trouble-free win. Then they performed impressively against Serbia in the semi-finals when at times they were ahead by 11 goals. Carelessness might be the team’s sole weak point at a point when they are clearly ahead. It was the case in their games with Russia and Serbia, as each of them managed to come really close in the very end to seriously challenge the Swedish victory. Anyway, Sweden feels really self-confident. “We know that we may beat the French girls” coach Camilla Eriksson said prior to the showdown, “but we are well aware of the fact that it will be really tough.”

 

Her statement should be right, as the French girls nearly performed magic in their semis against pitiful Hungarians, and their handball play for the most part of the match was perfection. They kept strict tactical discipline to implement the instructions of their coach Paul Landuré, performed impressively in defence and considerably improved in set-up attack. The Swedes thus are duly warned amongst others as Landuré pointed out his team’s great fighting spirit. “We do have a really strong team that is able to win this tournament.”

 

The final matches at a glance:

 

14.00 – Match for bronze

Hungary - Serbia

 

16.45 – Final

France – Sweden