Norway and Spain enter semi-finals at the 2011 Handball Championships in Brazil – Handball Recap
The quarterfinals of the 2011 World Women’s Handball Championship were held on December 14, 2011. The tournament is being held in Brazil where twenty-four women’s handball teams are taking part. From December 14, the quarterfinals of the competition were played
in Sao Paulo. Norway and Spain won their quarterfinals by beating Croatia and Brazil.
Croatia played their quarterfinal match against Norway. In the group stages, both teams had played five matches and won four. Their standings were quite better in their respective groups and they were playing for the win in the quarterfinals.
Norway women’s national handball team, which won the championships in 1999, were looking to get another win by qualifying for the 2011 championship. They did well until their matches in the round of sixteen knock out stage but could not give a strong performance
in the quarterfinals.
Their opponents, the Croatian women’s handball team, were placed sixth in the championships of 1997 and fourteenth in 2003, were dominant as they defeated former champions Norway 30-25. Heidi Loke from Norway scored eight goals
while Croatian handball player, Andrea Penezic scored four goals for her team.
On December 14, 2011, another quarterfinal was played between Spain and Brazil. Spain won the match 27-26 in a closely fought encounter. Both handball teams were in top form throughout the tournament. Spain had lost one match while the hosts, Brazil, were undefeated
throughout the tournament. In the quarterfinals, Spain not only ended Brazilians’ unbeaten run the tournament, but they also entered into the semi-finals.
It was a great moment for the Spanish women’s national handball team for they have not shown consistency in the past world championships. The Spaniard handball players did not qualify from 1995 to 1999 and later in 2005 were unable to qualify as well. They
came at tenth spot in 2001 and 2007 while at fifth and fourth place in 2003 and 2009 respectively. In the 2011 handball championship, the Spanish team proved their worth by beating Brazil.
The Brazilian handball team, on the other hand, never won the championship before nor finished in the top three spots. But in this year’s championships, they were undefeated and their chances to win the title were evident. They could not handle the Spanish
team as the Spaniards cruised into the semi-finals.
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