Our first two semi-finalists of the women’s handball tournament at Paris 2024 are known after Denmark beat Netherlands 29:25 and France beat Germany 26:23 in front of massive audiences at Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy.
The world record for attendance at a women’s handball match was beaten twice in a day, with 26,548 the current high in the day’s second match.
Netherlands flew out of the blocks in the first contest of the day, going 4:0 up with a brace each from Dione Housheer and Bo van Wetering.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about this Danish team at Paris 2024 it’s that they don’t panic. On the ropes, they bided their time and struck in the crucial minutes either side of half-time with an 8:0 run to take control.
Netherlands didn’t go away without a fight but they could never get closer than two goals as Denmark controlled the tempo of the match with a well-worked 7vs6 attack, while Althea Reinhardt delivered a brilliant goalkeeping performance with 17 saves at 42%.
There was the potential for late drama as an Ostergaard red card and Hansen suspension left Denmark down to five players with a three-goal lead and just over a minute left, but Housheer let the ball slip out of her hands in the Dutch attack and Denmark did enough to kill time and close out the victory.
Hosts withstand comeback
France have looked at ease and brilliant in their campaign so far and showed no signs of changing that today, despite a valiant German effort.
An early 9:3 advantage for the hosts threatened to make it a non-contest but persistent shooting from the likes of Emily Bölk finally made a dent in the lead and brought Germany back within three at the half.
Germany burst into life early in the second half, stringing five goals together to level the contest at 15:15 and bring some real jeopardy into the affair.
But France kept their cool, trusting Laura Glauser in goal, 13 saves at 36%, and found their rhythm again in attack, led by Tamara Horacek’s seven goals.
A three-goal win for the home side, guaranteeing a medal match at the end of the week. We’ll discover both team’s semi-final opponents later this evening.