Women’s Handball World Cup
Hungary’s handball players fought to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris at literally the last moment.
The Hungarian national team experienced extreme ups and downs during this World Cup. The minimum goal was to take part in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and the team’s first mandatory victories once morest Paraguay (35:12) and Cameroon (39:20) showed that they were well on their way. But the first serious opponent put their nerves on edge: once morest Montenegro, Hungary collapsed from a lead of 10:7 at halftime to 18:24 in a desolate second half. After the break, two goals were scored by the 45th minute. This tipped the game over and none of the well-paid star players showed themselves able to turn things around once more.
Nothing once morest European teams
Hungary therefore only took 2 points into the main round, which the team was able to immediately double thanks to another convincing 30:20 win once morest Senegal. Against hosts Sweden, the Hungarians had their strongest first half to date and took a deserved, albeit narrow, lead at halftime (11:10). In the second half of the game, however, the saves from goalkeeper and team captain Blanka Bíró petered out, while the attacking game once once more started to break (only three goals in 15 minutes). There was no surprise, Sweden won with some confidence at 26:22.
Too heavy a load?
Hungary was already dependent on support for its Olympic dream, which it promptly received from Brazil (with a victory over the Czech Republic). However, they still had to win once morest Croatia in the final game of the main round, for which a draw would have been enough to reach the quarter-finals. The Hungarians seemed to collapse under the weight from the start, only Viktória Győri-Lukács in the right wing position resisted, but that was only enough to make it 8:11 at the break. The drama then escalated further: Katrin Klujber converted half a dozen penalty throws in vain, and following 45 minutes the deficit was already six goals.
… but then Croatia went under
But suddenly Petra Simon – who repeatedly bravely penetrated the defensive wall into the circle – and Anna Albek showed successful individual actions from the backcourt, so that the deficit suddenly reduced to two goals in the final phase. And now Bíró locked their box, while Klujber, with a bit of luck, also converted the last seven-meter penalty (to make it 22:22). After Hungary took the lead for the first time, Bíró had to fend off a penalty throw from the Croatians. In the last 40 seconds, coach Vlagyimir Golovin’s team saved their narrow lead over time. Croatia went under, as is often the case with Hungary – even the handball experts in the studio just rubbed their eyes.
Immediately following the final whistle, the players rushed to join the handful of enthusiastic fans who had constantly cheered on the team even in the most hopeless situation. So they celebrated together the rather modest 10th place at the World Cup, which nevertheless entitles them to take part in the Olympic qualifying tournament in mid-April. The opponents so far are Japan and Cameroon, with the fourth participant joining from Europe.
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