The Netherlands claimed seventh place at Poland 2018 as they beat Spain in the 7-8 Placement Match while Germany beat Denmark to finish fifth after a shoot out.
Day Two: 5-8 Placement Matches - Sunday 19 August, Hall Legionow
5/6 Placement Match: Germany vs Denmark 28:25 (3:0 Shoot Out) (9:13) (16:12)
One year on from their W17 EHF EURO victory (20:18) over the Danes on their way to the European title, Germany again beat Denmark, but it was a much harder battle today in this 5/6 placement match as the Germans overcame their neighbours and rivals 3:0 in a shoot out to win 28:25.
After taking a 5:2 lead (12th) minute, following an unanswered five-goal run, Denmark led throughout the half, pushing ahead further at the break with another unanswered run, of four goals to go into the break 13:9 up.
But the second half saw a different story as Germany outscored their opponents by four (16:12) to take the game into a direct shoot out.
Denmark had been involved in a shoot out in the first round of the 5-8 placement round yesterday, beating the Netherlands 4:2, but today was completely different for the Danes as Emilie Bodholdt Steffensen saw the first shot of the 7m contest saved by Laura Waldenmaier in the German goal as she managed to get half a hand on it and push it onto her right-hand post.
Paulina Golla then put the Germans 1:0 up before Camilla Faartoft saw her shot hit the feet of Waldenmaier. Dana Bleckmann was then ultra-cool, lobbing the ball over Anna Opstrup Kristensen to make it 2:0 to the Germans.
The pressure was now on the Danes and when top-scorer and best player in the match for Denmark Michala Moller stepped up and smashed her shot onto the crossbar all Maxi Muhlner had to do was to score for the top five spot and she did, sparking wild celebrations from the German squad.
The loss for Denmark means they equal their lowest-ever finish in an IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, after their sixth-place finish back in 2010.
Best players of the match: Laetitia QUIST (GER), Michala Elsberg MOLLER (DEN)
7/8 Placement Match: Spain vs Netherlands 26:33 (14:14)
With their win and seventh-place finish, the Netherlands picked up their third best result in the women’s youth world championship after finishing third (2010) and sixth (2014) previously.
Led by new tournament top-scorer Nikita Van Der Vliet (12/15 shots scored - 64 in total), the Dutch fell behind after 10 minutes (6:5) and could not get in front again until late in the half (14:13 – 28th minute), after Netherlands’ coach Ricardo Clarijs swapped goalkeepers, as Lieke Van Der Linden (48% total saves) came in for Danique Trooster (19%) with the score at 12:11 to Spain.
The change helped the Dutch as the teams went into the break all-square (14:14) although Spain were helped when Dutch centre back Eva Van Diepen received a two-minute suspension and after the Spanish team took a time out, Sara Lopez Moles shot home to even it up.
A 5:0 run in the second half (37th-41st) took them up to 21:16 and the scoring stayed even from that point onwards until five minutes from time when Spain realised they win was out of reach.
“Now, after the tournament, I’m very proud of my players,” said Clarijs to the official tournament website. “Today in the second half, yesterday against Denmark and before that, against Sweden, we had some periods when we played very good – my players improved their skills and played a very, very good tournament.”
“It was a good game and we fought a lot as a whole team,” said Van Der Vliet. “We went into this match with all our energy, we won and are very happy.”
For Alfredo Rodriguez’s Spain side, it equals the position this generation finished at the W17 EHF EURO last year and is their best ranking at the world youth level since 2010, when they finished fifth.
Best players of the match: Elena MARTINEZ RUEZ (ESP), Kirsten THERON (NED)