Norway is one of the steady nations to compete for medals on the championship scene. As the World Championship is drawing closer the team of Ole Gustav Gjekstad reigned over Spain in a 41–19-show.
Behind the strong numbers, Norway presented a quality goalkeeper in Eli Marie Raasok who saved 60 percent of the shots in the first half. That led to 23–6 on the board leaving Spain without hope of a comeback.
Emilie Hovden proved her resources from the right wing and Nora Mørk produced five effective penalties until half time.
All in all, Norway was in total control despite Henny Reistad missing the game with a stress injury in the Achilles tendon.
– We win clearly and distinctly, so I think we are doing a lot of good things. We not only have one world-class goalkeeper, we also have Eli. I am very happy with that, and we also don’t concede any counter-goals, Gjekstad said to TV2.
In the same tournament, Posten Cup, Hungary beat Serbia 29–25 with the team captain Katrin Klujber (six goals) in good form.
The new coaches of Denmark, Helle Thomsen and Bojana Popovic noted a big, 35–23 win versus Sweden with an advantage in all parts of the game.
Anna Kristensen was confident between the posts, Trine Østergaard ran on fast breaks and Helena Elver took charge of the attacks with goals and assists to assert her capacity.