Netherlands and Norway on a collision course

With just two sets of matches remaining in the preliminary round, only Netherlands and Norway have fully secured their place in the quarter-finals of the women’s handball tournament at Tokyo 2020.

With both on a perfect record and winning with ease, they will collide on Saturday with top spot in group A on the line.

GROUP A

Netherlands vs Angola 37:28 (17:15)

• Netherlands continue to bang in the goals with a third successive game with 30 goals or more
• In a relatively quiet day for both sets of goalkeepers, Netherlands’ attack took centre stage with Bo van Wetering and Lois Abbingh leading the way with seven and six goals respectively
• Angola still without a point and face two must-win matches against South Korea and Japan

Japan vs South Korea 24:27 (11:12)

• South Korea off the mark at this competition after victory in the all-Asian affair
• Japan’s goalkeeper Minami Itano came in to produce seven saves from 12 shots but her attack could not match that output as South Korea controlled the second half
• new Györ signing Eun Hee Ryu was the star again with nine goals for the winning side

Montenegro vs Norway 23:35 (13:13)

• Norway’s average winning margin up to 11 goals per game after another dominant performance
• Montenegro were level at the break but a 9:0 run for Norway midway through the second half turned the match on its head
• DELO EHF FINAL4 MVP Henny Reistad fired in a perfect seven goals from as many shots

GROUP B

Spain vs Brazil 27:23 (13:13)

• an impressive final quarter made the difference as Spain scored a second consecutive victory
• Silvia Navarro shut up shop between the Spanish posts with 18 saves at 46%
• Bruna de Paula was prolific yet again for Brazil with eight goals but their opponents delivered a more rounded performance

Hungary vs ROC 31:38 (17:22)

• the Russian Olympic Committee finally got their first win with a relentlessly attacking match against Hungary
• Daria Dmitrieva enjoyed her best day of the tournament so far, firing in seven goals as Russia pulled away in the second half
• nine goals from Katrin Klujber not enough for the young Hungarian side, who are now on the verge of elimination after three successive defeats

Sweden vs France 28:28 (16:17)

• Jessica Ryde saved the day for Sweden, denying Grace Zaadi’s penalty in the final play of the match
• France held a five-goal lead in the first half, before the impressive Swedes finally came to life
• Carin Strömberg led the way for Sweden with seven goals in a back and forth second half, after which neither side deserved to lose

Detailed results and schedules are available on the official Olympics homepage.

All Tokyo 2020 photos courtesy of IHF.