15.06.2017, 12:35
Serbia, Hungary and Spain clinch World Championship berth

DAY REVIEW: Serbia and Spain are ready for the 2017 Women's World Championship after home wins, while a draw was more than enough for Hungary to join them.

Serbia, Hungary and Spain clinch World Championship berth

Serbia, Hungary and Spain all clinched their World Championship berth on Wednesday.

Serbia, who were practically through after a 10 goal win away against Italy, won even bigger at home, while a draw away against Slovakia was more than enough for Hungary after their nine-goal win on home court.

Spain, who had drawn away against Ukraine, were close to losing another big lead, but managed to land a win after all.

Serbia vs Italy 34:16 (14:4)

No less than 13 players scored for Serbia, as they ran over Italy in front of 2000 spectators in Nis.

Serbia were practically through already after their 33:23 win in Padova last Saturday, and they certainly did not leave any doubt Wednesday evening either.

It took the Italian visitors seven minutes and 41 seconds to score their first goal, and at that point, Serbia were already leading 5:0.

Two timeouts did not help the Italians who found themselves 10 goals down already at half time, having only scored four goals during the first 30 minutes.

Throughout the second half, Serbia continued to run over their opponents, being 19 goals up, when their lead was at its biggest.

Italy had the most scoring player in that match, as Laura Celeste Rotondo scored six goals.

Jovana Stoiljkova was most scoring among Serbia’s 13 goal scorers, as she hit the net five times.

Slovakia vs Hungary 24:24 (10:11)

The draw probably only bothered the pride of the Hungarians, as their World Championship berth was never in danger after their 28:19 win in Debrecen Saturday.

Slovakia were leading 2:0 and 3:2 at the start, and they also had a couple of one goal leads in the second half, but the rest of the time, Hungary were in the driver’s seat and leading by two or three goals.

As late as one and a half minute before the final buzzer, Hungary were leading by two goals, 24:22, but through two fast goals in the last minute, the home team managed to get a draw, much to the pleasure of the vast majority of the 8000 spectators in Bratislava.

Anita Görbicz scored eight goals for Hungary, Martina Skolkova six for Slovakia.

Spain vs Ukraine 22:20 (14:5)

The potential outcomes were clear before the match in Antequera.

After the two teams drew 24:24 in Ukraine, the winner Wednesday night would qualify for the final tournament in Germany.

Just like in the first match, Spain took a big lead in the first half, only allowing the visitors to score five goals in the first 30 minutes.

In the second half, however, Spain were close to losing the big lead, also like the first match.

The Spaniards seemed to be in no trouble, leading 19:9 12 minutes into the second half.

From that point on, however, Ukraine benefited from a 10-minute long Spanish goal drought to score no less than eight goals in succession and reduce the distance to only two goals at 19:17 with nine minutes left.

Finally, Spain managed to get their goal scoring started again, though, and after a narrow two goal win, they could celebrate securing a ticket for Germany after all.

Alexandrina Cabral Barbosa scored seven goals for Spain, while Viktoriya Borshchenko scored six for Ukraine.

TEXT: Peter Bruun/kc