2009 WC Qualification (Women)

The 2009 Women’s World Championship will be in China, 5-20 December 2009
The 24 spots were awarded as follows:

1) Host: [b]China[/b]
1) Defending World Champion: [b]Russia[/b]
10) Europe (3 + 7 Performance Places): [b]Norway, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Germany, France, Romania, Austria, Denmark, Ukraine[/b]
4) Asia (3 + 1 Performance Place): [b]South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Kazakhstan[/b]
4) Africa (3 + 1 Performance Place): [b]Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo, Tunisia[/b]
3) Pan America: [b]Argentina, Brazil, Chile[/b]
1) Oceania [b]Australia[/b]

Note: 9 Performance places based on standings 1st to 9th from the 2007 World Championships were awarded as follows: 7 spots were awarded to Europe, 1 to Africa and 1 to Asia

[b]EUROPEAN QUALIFICATION [/b](10 Nations (3 + 7 Performance Slots))

[b]European Championships[/b] (2 – 14 December, 2008, Macedonia) (2 Teams Qualify)
16 Nations participated in the European Championship Finals. The top 2 placed teams, not counting the defending World Champion, Russia, automatically qualified for the 2009 World Championships. The remaining 13 nations participated in a home and away 2 game playoff in June 2008.
Final Results: http://www.eurohandball.com/ech/women/2008/round/1/Final+Round

Final Ranking
1) [b]Norway[/b] Directly Qualify for WC
2) [b]Spain[/b] Directly Qualify for WC
3) Russia Already Qualified for WC (Defending Champion)
4) Germany
5) Romania
6) Croatia
7) Macedonia
8 ) Hungary
9) Sweden
10) Ukraine
11) Denmark
12) Belarus
13) Serbia
14) France
15) Austria
16) Portugal

[b]European World Championships Qualification Group Play[/b] (November 25-30, 2008)
The 17 nations not participating in the European Championships took part in Qualification Group Play. Nations were drawn into 2 Groups of 6 and 1 Group of 5. Each Group will play a double round robin at one location and the winner of each group will then qualify for the home and away 2 game playoffs in June 2008.

Draw Results: http://www.eurohandball.com/inc/print.asp?oid=11612
Group 1: Netherlands, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Turkey, Greece and Great Britain
Group 2: Italy, Montenegro, Slovenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Finland
Group 3: Poland, Iceland, Slovakia, Latvia and Switzerland
Note: 1st listed team has right to host the group tournament

Final Results: http://www.eurohandball.com/wch/women/2009/round/3/Qualification+Europe
Group 1
1) [u]Netherlands[/u] (Advances to European WC Playoff)
2) Turkey
3) Lithuania
4) Czech Republic
5) Great Britain
6) Greece

Group 2
1) [u]Montenegro[/u] (Advances to European WC Playoff)
2) Azerbaijan
3) Slovenia
4) Italy
5) Finland
6) Bulgaria

Group 3
1) [u]Slovakia[/u] (Advances to European WC Playoff)
2) Poland
3) Iceland
4) Switzerland
5) Lavia

[b]European World Championship Playoffs[/b] (1st leg: 6-7 June 2009; 2nd leg: 13-14 June 09)) (8 Teams Qualify)
The bottom 13 teams (not counting Russia) from the European Championships and the 3 qualification group winners were drawn into 8 pairings. These nations played a home and away 2 game playoff with the winner of each pairing qualifying for the World Championships.

Draw Results: http://www.eurohandball.com/article/11990
Slovakia – [b]Hungary[/b]
[b]Sweden[/b] – Montenegro
Serbia – [b]Germany[/b]
Croatia – [b]France[/b]
Belarus – [b]Romania[/b]
FYR Macedonia – [b]Austria[/b]
Portugal – [b]Denmark[/b]
[b]Ukraine[/b] – Netherlands
Final Results: http://www.eurohandball.com/wch/women/2009/round/2

[b]PAN AMERICAN QUALIFICATION [/b](3 Nations)

[b]1st Division Championships [/b](22-27 November 2008, Mexico City, Mexico)
The 1st Division Championship is open to all PATHF nations that didn't finish in the top 6 at the previous PATHF Championship. The top two teams from the tournament move on to the Pan American Championships.

Participants
USA – 7th place at 2007 Championships
Mexico – 8th place at 2007 Championships
Chile
Puerto Rico

Final Results: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.640
1) [u]Mexico[/u] (Advances to PATHF Championships)
2) [u]Chile[/u] (Advances to PATHF Championships)
3) Puerto Rico
4) USA

[b]Pan American Championships[/b] (23-27 June 2009, Chile)
Final Results: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.786
1) [b]Argentina[/b]
2) [b]Brazil[/b]
3) [b]Chile[/b]
4) Dominican Republic
5) Mexico
6) Uruguay
7) Paraguay
8 ) Canada (did not participate)

[b]AFRICA QUALIFICATION [/b](4 Nations)

Africa Nations Cup (7-20 January, 2008, Angola)
Final Results: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.439
1) [b]Angola[/b]
2) [b]Cote d’Ivoire[/b]
3) [b]Congo[/b]
4) [b]Tunisia[/b]
5) Democratic Republic of Congo
6) Algeria
7) Cameroon
8 ) Gabon

[b]ASIA QUALIFICATION [/b](4 Nations): Bankok Thailand (21-30 November, 2008)

Pool A: South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran
Pool B: China, Thailand, India, Qatar, Vietnam

Final Results: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.644
1) [b]South Korea[/b] (Qualify for WC 2009)
2) China (Already qualified as WC 2009 Host)
3) [b]Japan [/b](Qualify for WC 2009)
4) [b]Thailand [/b](Qualify for WC 2009)
5) [b]Kazakhstan[/b] (Qualify for WC 2009)
6) Vietnam
7) Iran
8 ) India
9) Uzbekistan
10) Qatar

[b]OCEANIA QUALIFICATION[/b] (1 Nation): Brisbane, Australia (25-30 May, 2009)
Final Results: http://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.776
Australia won a double round robin tournament with a 6-0-0 record.