Slovenians are in semi-finals! In QF they have managed to edge Qatar 32:30 and catch a SF place in Paris where they will play France. Big match for Slovenia, 3-goal lead after first 30, in the end +2 but they have even had huge +9 in a few occasions in the second half. Marguc was once again unstoppable with 6, Blagotinsek, Mackovsek, Zarabec, Poteko and Cingesar added 2 each for a big celebration for Vujovic, his players and whole Slovenia. Skok added 9 saves, Lesjak 2. Slovenians remember what it feels like to play WCh semis. They've already played there 4 years ago in Spain falling short against hosts and later losing 3rd place match against Croatia. It's up to see whether they will be luckier this time but lightning, flying performance in opening 10 minutes of the second half today is a proof they can play against anyone. Gremo Slovenci!

Croats have managed to top Spain in a drama in Montpellier securing a SF battle against Norway. Best performance for Croatia on this tournament so far. Defence was functioning a bit better than attack, especially in the second half with Mamic delivering an amazing performance, probably the best so far in Croatian jersey, with 9 goals. Cindric and Horvat were clutch for Croatia in the end combining for 9, Kontrec added 2, Sebetic 1. Stevanovic shined with 9 saves, Pesic added 1. Alex Dujshebaev was on the other side leading Spanish comeback in the second half finishing the match with 5 goals, Canellas added 2. Croatia already has WCh gold back from 2003 in Portugal. That was however 14 years ago with a completely new Croatian roster looking to go all the way here in France. Ajmo Hrvatska!

Hungarian dream is, unfortunately for their fans, here in France after 31:28 loss against Norway over. It was not as close as it seems with Norwegians enlarging the gap to 7 before the half time already deciding the encounter and booking a SF place. Csazsar was unstoppable today scoring 11 goals, Bahnidi added 6 but others did not follow. Nagy scored 1 as well as Lekai. Mikler had 9 saves. Espen Hansen on the other side led Norway with 6 and their goalies combined for 15 saves. WCh in France is now over for Hungarians who have managed to reach eighth place in final rankings which is way higher than it was expected for Xavi Sabate and his boys to reach. Norwegians will on the other hand on Friday in Accorhotels Arena in Paris play Croatia.

Dinart and his 'Les Blues' have against Sweden managed to reach SF spot. In the end tough 33:30 victory with Swedes once again proving to be one of the biggest surprises of the tournament with a new flashing, eye-catching performance. Andreas Nilsson scored 1. Mahe was however unstoppable today scoring 9 (7/7 from 7-meter line), Remili added 6 in key moments and the deal was sealed. France will in SF on Thursday in Paris play Slovenia.

Matchday 14 (24.1.2017)

Montpellier: (QF) Spain - Croatia 29:30 (15:17) (Fernandez 7, Mamic 9)

Albertville: (QF) Norway - Hungary 31:28 (17:10) (Espen Hansen 6/Csazsar 11)

Lille: (QF) France - Sweden 33:30 (15:16) (Mahe 9/Gottfridsson 7)

Paris: (QF) Slovenia - Qatar 32:30 (18:15) (Marguc 6/Roine 8)

 

The tournament continues in Accorhotels Arena in Paris on Thursday with SF1 in which France will play Slovenia. SF2 in which Norway will meet Croatia is scheduled for Friday.

 

Final tournament schedule:

 

Paris: 26.1. (SF1) France - Slovenia (20.45 CET)

27.1. (SF2) Croatia - Norway (20.45 CET)

28.1. (3rd place match) LSF1 vs LSF2 (20.45 CET)

29.1. (final) WSF1 vs WSF2 (20.45 CET)

 

­

FULL WCH FRANCE 2017 OVERVIEW

 

Results Group A

Round 1; France - Brazil 31:16 (17:7) (Porte 6/Toledo 5), Russia - Japan 39:29 (18:15) (Atman, Dibirov, Shishkarev 6/Shida 7), Poland - Norway 20:22 (10:12) (Daszek 7/Hansen 6)

Round 2; Japan - France 19:31 (9:17) (Uegaki 5/Fabregas 7), Brazil - Poland 28:24 (16:11) (Toledo 8/Paczkowski 6), Norway - Russia 28:24 (15:11) (Bjornsen 7/Soroka 8)

Round 3; France - Norway 31:28 (16:12) (N. Karabatic 5/ Sagosen 8), Brazil - Japan 27:24 (14:12) (Langaro 8/Tokuda 7), Poland - Russia 20:24 (9:13) (Gebala 4/Kovalev 7)

Round 4; Norway - Brazil 39:26 (18:13) (Sagosen 7/Chiuffa, Pozzer 6), Poland - Japan 26:25 (9:11) (Daszek 5/Ushida 9), Russia - France 24:35 (11:16) (Shishkarev 6/Dipanda 8)

Round 5; Russia - Brazil 28:24 (14:15) (Dereven 5/Pozzer 5), France - Poland 26:25 (13:13) (Nyokas 7/Krajewski 5), Japan - Norway 23:38 (14:19) (Motoki 4/Myrhol 7)

STANDINGS GROUP A; France 10 (+42), Norway 8 (+31), Russia 6 (+3), Brazil 4 (-25), Poland 2 (-10), Japan 0 (-41)

 

Results Group B

Round 1; Slovenia - Angola 42:25 (22:13) (Marguc, Mackovsek 9/Lopes 7), Macedonia - Tunisia 34:30 (13:14) (K. Lazarov 12/Boughanmi 9), Spain - Iceland 27:21 (10:12) (Canellas 4/Sigurdsson 5)

Round 2; Iceland - Slovenia 25:26 (8:11) (Elisson 7/Bezjak 6), Tunisia - Spain 21:26 (10:12) (Toumi 5/Tomas, Balaguer 5), Angola - Macedonia 22:31 (9:14) (Lopes 5/K.Lazarov 10)

Round 3; Iceland - Tunisia 22:22 (11:13) (Sigurdsson 5/Bannour 12), Slovenia - Macedonia 29:22 (16:10) (Marguc, Bezjak 4/K.Lazarov 9), Spain - Angola 42:22 (21:10) (Fernandez 9/Lopes 6)

Round 4; Slovenia - Tunisia 28:28 (15:13) (Kavticnik 7/Sanai 8), Angola - Iceland 19:33 (8:16) (Lopes 8/Sigurdsson 8), Macedonia - Spain 25:29 (14:14) (K. Lazarov 6/Rivera 11)

Round 5; Tunisia - Angola 43:34 (23:16) (Bannour 10/Teca 10), Macedonia - Iceland 27:27 (13:15) (Lazarov 7/Karason 7), Spain - Slovenia 36:26 (18:10) (Balaguer 7/Marguc 6)

STANDINGS GROUP B; Spain 10 (+45), Slovenia 7 (+15), Macedonia 5 (+2), Iceland 4 (+7), Tunisia 4 (0), Angola 0 (-69)

 

Results Group C

Round 1; Belarus - Chile 28:32 (14:14) (Karalek 10/R. Salinas 8), Germany - Hungary 27:23 (16:11) (Gensheimer 13/Jamali, Lekai 3), Croatia - Saudi Arabia 28:23 (12:11) (Cindric 6/Alsalem 5)

Round 2; Hungary - Croatia 28:31 (11:11) (Balogh, Harsanyi 6/Duvnjak 5), Chile - Germany 14:35 (6:17) (Feuchtmann 2/Kohlbacher 8), Saudi Arabia - Belarus 26:29 (13:14) (Alsalem 7/Pukhouski 9)

Round 3; Hungary - Chile 34:29 (17:14) (Jamali 7/Er. Feuchtmann 9), Croatia - Belarus 31:25 (18:15) (Cindric 8/Karalek 7), Germany - Saudi Arabia 38:24 (21:13) (Fath 6/Alzaer 8)

Round 4; Saudi Arabia - Hungary 24:37 (10:17) (Almohsin 7/Csazsar 9), Belarus - Germany 25:31 (16:16) (Shylovich 4/Gensheimer 8), Croatia - Chile 37:22 (17:9) (Mihic 8/Salinas 4)

Round 5; Chile - Saudi Arabia 25:26 (13:13) (R. Salinas 7/Alabbas 9), Germany - Croatia 28:21 (13:9) (Wiencek 6/Strlek 5), Belarus - Hungary 27:25 (15:13) (Brouka 6/Juhasz 7)

STANDINGS GROUP C; Germany 10 (+52), Croatia 8 (+22), Belarus 4 (-11), Hungary 4 (+9), Saudi Arabia 2 (-34), Chile 2 (-38)

 

Results Group D

Round 1; Qatar - Egypt 20:22 (8:11) (Capote 5/El-Ahmar 8), Sweden - Bahrain 33:16 (17:5) (Tollbring 10/Habib Hasan 4), Denmark - Argentina 33:22 (17:11) (Hansen 6/F. Fernandez 6)

Round 2; Egypt - Denmark 28:35 (15:21) (Elderaa 6/Svan 6), Argentina - Sweden 17:35 (11:16) (S. Simonet 5/Zachrisson 8), Bahrain - Qatar 22:32 (9:19) (Abdulqader Ali 5/Madadi 8)

Round 3; Egypt - Bahrain 31:29 (17:15) (Elderaa 6/Abdulla Saad 6), Denmark - Sweden 27:25 (14:10) (Hansen 8/Ekberg 7), Qatar - Argentina 21:17 (9:2) (Mallash 5/Fernandez 7)

Round 4; Argentina - Egypt 26:31 (10:13) (Vieyra 12/Elbassiouny 5), Denmark - Bahrain 30:26 (17:13) (H. Toft 6/Habib Hasan 6), Sweden - Qatar 36:25 (19:12) (Ekberg 9/Roine 8)

Round 5; Bahrain - Argentina 17:26 (8:13) (Abdulqader Ali 5/Fernandez 8), Sweden - Egypt 33:26 (15:9) (Ekberg 8/Eissa 7), Qatar - Denmark 29:32 (16:14) (Capote 5/Noddesbo 8)

STANDINGS GROUP D; Denmark 10 (+27), Sweden 8 (+51), Egypt 6 (-5), Qatar 4 (-2), Argentina 2 (-29), Bahrain 0 (-42)

 

Eighth-finals/quarter-finals:

Montpellier: Brazil - Spain 27:28 (18:16) (Silva 7/Dujshebaev, Canellas 5), Croatia - Egypt 21:19 (13:7) (Horvat 6/Elahmar 5)

QF Spain - Croatia 29:30 (15:17) (Fernandez 7, Mamic 9)

 

Albertville: Norway - Macedonia 34:24 (12:10) (Jondal 6/K. Lazarov 6), Hungary - Denmark 27:25 (13:12) (Lekai 6/Hansen 9)

QF Norway - Hungary 31:28 (17:10) (Espen Hansen 6/Csazsar 11)

 

Lille: France - Iceland 31:25 (14:13) (Guigou 6/Karason 7), Belarus - Sweden 22:41 (11:24) (Karalek 7/Gotffridsson 8)

QF France - Sweden 33:30 (15:16) (Mahe 9/Gottfridsson 7)

 

Paris: Russia - Slovenia 26:32 (15:13) (Dereven, Shishkarev 5/Cingesar 6), Germany - Qatar 20:21 (10:9) (Groetzki 4/Capote 9)

QF Slovenia - Qatar 32:30 (18:15) (Marguc 6/Roine 8)

 

Final tournament schedule:

 

Paris: 26.1. (SF1) France - Slovenia (20.45 CET)

27.1. (SF2) Croatia - Norway (20.45 CET)

28.1. (3rd place match) LSF1 vs LSF2 (20.45 CET)

29.1. (final) WSF1 vs WSF2 (20.45 CET)

 

President’s Cup, Brest: 

Saturday (21.1.) (1) Japan - Angola 37:26 (18:14) (Tokuda 8/Lopes 9), (2) Poland - Tunisia 28:26 (15:11) (Krajewski 8/Bannour 10)

Sunday (22.1.) (3) Chile - Bahrain 35:30 (18:14) (R. Salinas 8/Ali Alsayyad 8) (4) Saudi Arabia - Argentina 22:24 (8:10) (6 Alabas/6 Pizzaro)

Monday (23.1.) (23rd place match) Angola - Bahrain 26:32 (13:15) (Pestana 6/Merza Salman 8), (21st place match) Japan - Chile 29:35 (12:17) (Agarie 9/Ceballos 7), (19th place match) Tunisia - Saudi Arabia 39:30 (20:15) (Haj Youssef 12/Alabas 9), (17th place match) Poland - Argentina 24:22 (13:13) (Krajewski 6/Fernandez 8)

 

WCH FRANCE 2017 - FINAL RANKINGS:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. Spain

6. Qatar

7. Sweden

8. Hungary

9. Germany

10. Denmark

11. Belarus

12. Russia

13. Egypt

14. Iceland

15. Macedonia

16. Brazil

17. Poland

18. Argentina

19. Tunisia

20. Saudi Arabia

21. Chile

22. Japan

23. Bahrain

24. Angola

Photo: France Handball 2017 Flickr