Norway is the Bronze medallist of the XIX. Women’s World Championship in China. The Olympic Champion beat Spain in the Bronze final 31:26 (15:9) and celebrated the medal together with their more than 400 spectators in the arena of Nanjing. 

The Bronze final was equal only in the very beginning at the score of 4:3. “Then we lost control, Norway played dominant and we didn’t score anymore”, Spanish coach Jorge Duenas said. His team was really overran by a 8:0 goal series of Norway and punished by counter attacks. “This stage was the decisive part of the match”, Duenas said. 

Norway kept the clear lead until the middle of the second half. But Spain tried hard in the “rematch” of last year’s EURO final  to turn the game again. In minute 51 the distance was only three goals (21:24), but right at that time, the Norwegians found their rhythm again and decided the match. Pivot Frafjord was the top scorer with seven goals for Norway, Riegelhuth and Herrem scored each six goals. Mangue again and Aguilar were Spanish top scorers with each five goals. Aguilar was disappointed: “When you miss a final, it’s hard to play the Bronze match. We lost to many balls and received too many goals by counter attacks.” On the other hand, Norwegian assistant coach Mia Hermansson was highly satisfied: “We’re extremely happy with this victory. It’s not good to return to Norway without a medal. We’ve won thanks to our defense and our counter attacks.” In her opinion, wing Camilla Herrem was the best Norwegian player in this tournament. For Duenas the WCH was highly important, even as his team didn’t win a medal: “It’s the first time that we rank fourth at a WCH. We can build upon our performance here in China.”