France silenced Trondheim Spektrum and now half the quarter-final field is ready. It includes the meetings between France and the Czech Republic, as well as the heavyweight between Norway and the Netherlands.
During Sunday, the first quarter-final meetings were to be nailed down and then there was a lot of drama.
First up was the meeting between the Czech Republic and Brazil. A match in which the Czech Republic dominated the event for a long time, but Brazil played itself up and was able to win 30–27 in the end. But it was still the Czechs who cheered the loudest after the final whistle.
The reason for this is that it was all decided via head-to-head meetings between Spain, the Czech Republic and Brazil, which ended up on the same score. Brazil had needed to win by two more goals to overtake the Czech Republic in second place.
After that, of course, Spain had the chance to clinch a place in the quarter-finals by defeating group ten Netherlands. But Ambros Martin’s team was never really close to disrupting Per Johansson’s well-oiled machinery and thus it was the Netherlands and the Czech Republic who advanced from the fourth group.
France silenced Trondheim
In Sunday’s second group, it was already clear that Norway and France would advance to the quarter-finals. The only thing left was tonight’s pure group final, where the two full points were pitted against each other.
The two heavyweights offered what can be described as the best match of the championship so far. After great drama in the final stage, Estelle Nze Minko was finally able to make it 24-23 and when Laura Glauser then saved the final finish, the French team could celebrate in an eerily quiet Trondheim Spektrum.
This means that France faces the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals, while Norway faces the Netherlands. These quarter-finals begin already on Tuesday and will be played in Trondheim, Norway.
WC 10 December:
Argentina–Ukraine 25–20 (13–11)
Czech Republic–Brazil 27–30 (17–16)
Angola–South Korea 33–31 (20–15)
Netherlands–Spain 29–21 (13–9)
Slovenia–Austria 32–27 (19–14)
France–Norway 24–23 (12–12)