[b]Scheduled Matches (Beijing Local Time)[/b]
0900-1030 Match 1: Iceland vs. Egypt
1045-1215 Match 2: Spain vs. Brazil
1400-1530 Match 3: Russia vs. South Korea
1545-1715 Match 4: Croatia vs. China
1900-2030 Match 5: Denmark vs. Germany **MSNBC Monday 12:30p-1:30p (Eastern Time US)
2045-2215 Match 6: Poland vs. France
[b]Video Links:[/b] http://www.nbcolympics.com/handball/video/index.html
Suggested match(es) to watch: Based on match results, video we’ve seen and feedback from other Handball news sites we will suggest the top match of the day to watch.
[b]Standings: [/b] http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/HB/C76/HBM400000.shtml#HBM400A01
[b]Group A (Standings thru 4 Rounds)[/b]
Rank Team Pts MP W T L GF GA Diff
1 France 8 4 4 0 0 118 85 33
2 Poland 6 4 3 0 1 117 98 19
3 Croatia 4 4 2 0 2 107 93 14
4 Spain 4 4 2 0 2 116 110 6
5 Brazil 2 4 1 0 3 94 117 -23
6 China 0 4 0 0 4 82 131 -49
[b]Scenarios for Group A Seeding:[/b]
– China: They are locked into 6th place
– Brazil: A win over Spain would give them 4th place.
– Spain: Needs a win or draw against Brazil for 4th place. They could place higher depending on tiebreakers with Poland and/or Croatia
– Croatia: Assuming a win vs. China, they will be 2nd, 3rd, or 4th depending on tiebreakers with Spain and/or Poland
– Poland: Will take 1st if they beat France, otherwise it will depend on tiebreakers with Spain and/or Croatia
– France: Will take 1st with a win or draw against Poland. If they lose they will take 2nd
[b]Group B (Standings thru 4 Rounds)[/b]
Rank Team Pts MP W T L GF GA Diff
1 Korea 6 4 3 0 1 100 100 0
2 Iceland 5 4 2 1 1 119 114 5
3 Germany 5 4 2 1 1 105 103 2
4 Denmark 4 4 1 2 1 110 110 0
5 Russian Fed. 3 4 1 1 2 107 109 -2
6 Egypt 1 4 0 1 3 95 100 -5
[b]Scenarios for Group B Seeding:[/b]
Editor‘s Note: Updated after the Iceland – Egypt draw in the first match on Monday
– Egypt: 6th place
– Russia/Denmark/Germany: If Russia beats South Korea, then the results of Denmark-Germany will determine who goes home in 5th place. If Germany beats Denmark, Denmark will get 5th place. If Denmark beats Germany, Germany will get 5th place (assuming that Russia has made up the 4 goals in overall total goal differential. (Germany and Russia had a draw in their match and the next tiebreaker is Goal Differential in all matches played.) And, conspiracy theory alert, if there is a draw between Denmark and Germany, Russia will get 5th place. Although, as has been pointed out in the Kometal forum, Denmark will be highly motivated to win and avoid 4th place and its likely matchup against France.
– Iceland/Korea: These teams are through to the next round and their final seeding involves several scenarios.
[b]Betting lines: [/b] According to betting comparison site, bestbetting.com, these are the point spreads for Sunday’s matches: Iceland (-2.5), Spain (-6.5), Russia (-1.5), Croatia (-11.5), Denmark (-0.5), and France (-3.5)