Big celebration for Romania, Germany and Norway - these three teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals after the second matchday of the main round. As Germany made a draw against Hungary, it was clear that they will be through if Romania beat Spain, and they did. In Group II in Dijon, now Romania have 6:0 points ranking at the top, ahead of Germany (5:1), Hungary (4:2), Korea (2:4), Spain (1:5) and Poland (0:6). In Group I Norway have still a ‘white vest' with 6:0 points. In this group Russia, France (after beating Macedonia) and Angola (after the victory over Croatia) have 4:2 points and best chances to make through. The Balkan duel Croatia and Macedonia is still waiting for first points in the main round.
Main Round - Group I in Metz:
FYRO Macedonia - France 23:29 (12:17)
France took a deep breath after winning this match, as it was decisive for their future in the tournament. But France had a lot of problems against the Balkan team, which managed a better start to secure a 5:3 lead. But thanks to the better goalkeepers (Leynaud and Nicolas) France improved and turned the match - but not completely, as Macedonia continued until the score of 13:14. A strong team performance - best scorer was Camille Ayglon with six goals - helped France look for an early decision - and everything went fine until 19:14. But - like in the match against Angola - the host lived a hard time in the second half: Macedonia came closer and closer until 19:18 and 20:19 (51.), but three consecutive goals led France to victory. The host have 4:2 points on their account now, while Macedonia rank last with 0:6 points.
Croatia - Angola 28:34 (16:16)
The fabulous victory against France was not a one-day sensation: Angola is nearly through to the quarter-finals after beating Croatia. The Africans now have four points, and given that Macedonia and Croatia still have zero points, Angola need one single point from the last two matches against Russia and Macedonia to be 100% save. Even though Svitlana Pacisnik scored 13 goals, Croatia could not seize their last chance to reach the next round. Again Nair Almeida, who scored eleven goals against France, was the top scorer of Angola, that time with eight goals. The Africans were in the lead nearly all the time during the first half, with the greatest margin of four at 14:10. In the second half Croatia was not able to break through the defence and never came closer than three goals. So Angola's party began at 30:24.
Norway - Russia 22:21 (7:9)
After Romania and Germany, Norway is the third team - and the first from Metz which have qualified for the quarter-finals after the second matchday of the main round. But the Norwegians had to shiver and shake until the very last second. The World Champions from Russia made a better start into the match than the European Champions. But the match was tight until half-time when Russia led 9:7 due to their players, physically strong, and a good defence that did not allow the Norwegians to start their speedy play. And goalkeeper Inna Suslina showed a great performance. But after the break the Northern Lights improved, turned the page very quickly and led 16:10 after minute 43. Russia did not score for twelve minutes. But everybody who thought the match was decided was wrong. Even at 20:15, Norway was not through, as Russia fought for life. The difference became quite narrow but Norway was already celebrating the victory after the 21:18 by Katja Nyberg resulting from a counter-attack and 22:19. But then, Russia scored twice - still 59 seconds to play, Norway had the ball but lost it just 30 seconds before the end. The Norwegian defence fought for every centimetre and stopped the Russians.
Germany - Hungary 30:30 (14:17)
A high-class match like a rollercoaster: As Hungary was dancing on the court, everybody could think they had won the match, but they just grabbed one point three seconds before the final whistle and now have 4:2 points in the overall ranking. Germany was slightly disappointed but merely for some seconds after the match, as they now have 5:1 points. The match was something very special for Germany's goalkeeper Sabine Englert from Hypo Niederösterreich, as she played against her club's coach Andras Nemeth. And in the first 30 minutes, when she was on the court, she showed a great performance. But she was standing in the shadow of the player of the match: outstanding Hungarian goalkeeper Katalin Palinger, who showed a world-class performance. The first 27 minutes were really balanced, no team could earn break away more than two goals. Then Germany hit the goalpost three times in a row, and Hungary went ahead to 15:12. But Germany fought back in the second half to equalise to 21:21. The last 17 minutes of high tension saw big advantages for Hungary which rushed ahead, scoring four goals. But Germany showed moral and ambition again. At 28:28, everything was possible again for both teams. The Germans celebrated two goals - and thought the match was over at 30:28 just one minute before the final whistle. But with two last-minute goals Hungary now still have good chances to reach the quarter-finals. Best scorer for Germany was Grit Jurack (6 goals), and Anita Görbicz for Hungary with eight goals. So in their head-to-head top scorer list, Görbicz (36) is ahead of Jurack (35).
Poland - Korea 33:37 (19:20)
More than 3,000 spectators in Dijon witnessed the second thrilling match in a row after the draw between Hungary and Germany - until minute 50. Poland and Korea, who both started with zero points in the third main round match, played a very tight match until 26:26. But starting at 27:26, Korea improved and Poland made too many mistakes in offence to win this very decisive match to secure a spot in the quarter-finals. Six minutes before the final whistle, Korea decided the match at the score of 34:28 and a series of 9:2 goals. Now the team from Asia have - with 2:4 points - still their chance to reach the next phase, whereas as Poland - 0:6 points on their account - have to hope for a little wonder in the matches against Germany and Spain. Until the score of 10:6, Korea had been leading, as Poland missed a good start into the match. But then especially top scorer Karolina Kudlacz (eight goals) brought Poland back on track. Up to 21:20 just after the break, Korea was still leading then Poland scored four goals in a row. But again the match changed very quickly and from minute 50, Korea got the match under full control. Their best scorers were Sunhee Woo with eight goals and Bokhee Myoung with nine goals. Now the Asian team have again high hopes for the last matches against Hungary and Spain.
Spain - Romania 19:32 (6:19)
Romania went through to the quarter-finals in a high-class manner and still proves their ‘white vest', and also Germany was happy about this victory, as it made them progress to the next round by the great Romanian victory. Again goalkeeper Luminita Dinu was one of the match winners - and honoured as the best player of the match - for Romania that are going straight to the top of Group II in Dijon with 6:0 points now. This decision will bear heavy for the last main round match against Germany. Romania had a perfect start to rush to 7:3 and then everything went its ‘normal' way. After minute 24, the margin increased up to ten goals at 15:5. Romania played at high speed, and nearly every counter-attack was a goal even in the beginning of the second half. The typical attack action was a long pass from the defence, three steps and - goal, and this was done perfectly and fully concentrated until the end. As the Romanians calmed down a little bit when the match was decided, Spain took the advantage to catch up which meant to reduce the margin to less than 15 goals. The spectators, mostly French, stood up in the last minutes to contribute to the Romanian performance. Best scorer for the winning side was Ionela Stanga-Galca, Goretti Castaneda scored five times for Spain.
President's Cup
Group I and II in Beauvais
Brazil - Austria 38:19 (19:10)
This easy win over Austria brought Brazil a spot in the placement match for rank 13 / 14, as they have won Group I without a single defeat with two successful matches. Brazil just needed ten minutes to decide the match, as they were leading 11:1 against an Austrian team, which looked like not being on the court. Until the half-time break it was only Alexandra Materzok, who fought against the Brazilians, at the end she was Austria's top scorer with six goals. But one Materzok was not enough for the young Austrian team, which will have to compete for ranks 15 / 16.
Congo - Ukraine 28:31 (14:14)
Ukraine had no easy day, however, qualified for the placement match 13 / 14 against Brazil. But Congo played a great match and was almost able to provide another surprise. Ukraine was wide awake right from the start and began with a 5:0-series, but at 8:8 Congo had equalised. In second half it remained a tight match until Ukraine paced up to rush to 25:21. It was the decision of this match, even though Congo tried everything. The Africans now play in the placement match against Kazakhstan for places 17 / 18.
Group III and IV in Plaisir
Australia - Dominican Republic 14:26 (7:12)
As Australia is still without any success in this tournament the team of Dominican Republic celebrated their first victory and now are to play for places 21 / 22. Given that Argentina had been the group winner since yesterday, this match had to bring the decision, which team will be runner-up and which team will reach third place. In the first 23 minutes (6:7) Australia were able to catch up with the Caribbean Islands side, but then it was obvious that the Dominican Republic had more power and individual alternatives. The match was decided by seven goals in a row DOM netted to break away from 10:7 to 18:7. Best scorer for DOM was Chrisleidy Hernandez again, scoring seven goals, best Australian scorer was Raelene Bolton with four goals.
Japan -Paraguay 36: 8 (23:4)
Paraguay again did not have any chance -like in all matches before, it was their fifth defeat out of five matches. Now they are to play Australia. Japan will - after a second victory in their second President's Cup match - play as number one of this group against Argentina for places 19 / 20.