They danced on the field, as they did in 2001, 2005 and 2007: Again Russia became Women’s World Champion and was awarded by IHF President Hassan Moustafa with the winner’s trophy after the 25:22 (14:11) against France in the WCH final in Nanjing. Both teams seemed tired, but Russia had more means to decide the match. Right before the Awarding Ceremony, the Russian players celebrated, while the French players stood on the field with low hanging heads. The final was tensioned, but not brilliant, as again the attack wasn’t the decisive factor.

 

The first half was imprinted by very strong defense performances on both sides, as only 25 goals were scored in 30 minutes. France had the better start, but then the “Russian wall” again stood stead and turned the game from 4:6 to 8:6. France couldn’t pass through, but on the other hand defended so good that Russia couldn’t increase the distance to more than three goals at the break. Another disadvantage for the Russians were the high number of suspensions. Both teams were physically absolute present and fought for every centimeter of the hall. Both goalkeepers, Leynaud and Sedoykina, who substituted Suslina very early, played good as well. Russia had the better tactics and individual skills in the first half, but this wasn’t enough to decide the match as early as in the semifinal against Norway. Top scorer for the first 30 minutes was Russian Elena Dmtrieva with six goals.

France came closer to one goal several times, but missed all the chances, when they could have scored the equalizer. By this, Russia remained in lead, sometimes with a two-goal difference, sometimes with four goals. And the new World Champion had several chances to decide the game earlier, but they missed them, including two penalty shots. But as the French attack was even weaker, the big Russian party could start. Three players – Postnova, Mourawjewa and Turey became World Champion for the third time. Top scorers of this match were Dmtrieva (Russia) and Signate (France) with eight goals each. After the final the awards for the All Star Team were handed over.

 

The XX Women’s World Championship will take place in Brazil in 2011. By winning Gold in China, Russia is directly qualified for this tournament.

 

As IHF President Dr. Hassan Moustafa already mentioned in his tournament summary, the IHF  - including the referee commission was highly satisfied with the performances of the referees. The Danish couple Gjeding/Hansen whistled the final, the Argentines Marina/Minore whistled the Bronze final. For both matches women couples were nominated as reserve. Aside three women couples had whistled placement matches for the ranks 5- 12.

 

The final ranking of the XIX. Women’s World Championship:

1. RUS

2. FRA

3. NOR

4. ESP

5. DEN

6. KOR

7. GER

8. ROU

9. HUN

10. AUT

11. ANG

12. CHN

13. SWE

14. TUN

15. BRA

16. JAP

17. UKR

18. CIV

19. ARG

20. CGO

21. THA

22. KAZ

23. CHI

24. AUS