France, Poland and Croatia have all qualified for the Olympics, but 2nd place is still undecided in all 3 tournaments. In tournament 1, Sweden and Iceland will battle it out. Sweden only needs a draw to advance and Iceland must win. In tournament 2, the Tunisia – Spain match will likely decide 2nd. If Spain wins or draws they will qualify for Beijing. If Tunisia wins they will qualify if France draws or beats Norway. A Norwegian victory on the other hand would likely qualify Norway as they would probably have a better overall goal differential. Finally, the Japan – Russia match is technically a showdown as well. If the Japanese indeed pull off the monster upset they will head to Beijing and send the Russians home.

[b]Commentary on the video streaming:[/b] If you’re thinking that the video quality just isn’t worth your time, you might want to reconsider and check it out. I’ve certainly complained in the past about the quality of the video streaming made available by the IHF, but this time around I‘ve only got some minor complaints. I watched the France – Spain and Poland – Iceland matches and it was a decent viewing experience. Particularly, the Paris match which appeared to have a higher bit rate than the match from Wroclaw. Additionally, most of the matches are available on demand and thankfully the final scores are not placed on the video access page. A simple thing, but it was great to watch both matches without knowing the final score for once. My only complaint was that the Tunisia – Norway match was not available as due to a glitch it was linked to the France – Spain game by mistake.

The International Handball Federation is offering free live streaming of all 3 Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments this Fri-Sat. The top 2 finishers in each tournament will qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

Link to matches: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcatart=1435

Note: Make sure you double check your calculations in figuring out what time each match will be played in your time zone. Local times are listed first, US East Coast is in parentheses. If the service is like the Women’s tournaments you will need to watch the games live as no tape delay was offered. Still, the time change isn’t too bad for North America and if your office hasn’t fire walled out video you should be able to enjoy lunch and live handball at your desk on Friday.

[b]Tournament 1 (Wroclaw, Poland) [/b]

Friday, 30 May
18:00 ISL – ARG (12:00)
20:15 POL – SWE (14:15)

Saturday, 31 May
18:00 SWE – ARG (12:00)
20:15 POL – ISL (14:15)

Sunday, 1 June
18:15 SWE – ISL (12:15) ** (projected battle for 2nd place)
20:30 ARG – POL (14:30)

[b]Analysis: [/b]Host Poland is the big favorite here, but will do well to beat a resurgent Sweden in their first match. Assuming Poland wins out it will set up a huge Nordic Country show down on Sunday. Sweden beat Iceland 24-19 in January at the European Championships and will be favored to do so again. The Swedes, however, will be wary as they remember Iceland beating them in Sweden 32-28 in June 2006 as part of 2007 World Championship qualification. Sweden was able to win the 2nd match in Iceland. As they only won by 1 goal, though, Iceland won the 2 game aggregate and kept Sweden from participating in the 2007 World Championships.

[b]Tournament 2 (Paris, France) [/b]

Friday, 30 May
19:30 FRA – TUN (13:30)
21:30 ESP – NOR (15:30)

Saturday, 31 May
17:00 FRA – ESP (11:00)
19:30 TUN – NOR (13:30)

Sunday, 1 June
14:30 TUN – ESP (8:30)
16:30 NOR – FRA (10:30)

[b]Analysis:[/b] France and Spain are the big favorites here, but don’t discount a potential Tunisian surprise. Many of their top players play professionally in France and there is a significant Tunisian population living in the country. Tunisia has also played in the Bercy tournament several times as well, so they will be very comfortable playing in that arena. Sunday’s, Tunisia – Spain match up could very well be for 2nd place. If Tunisia hangs tough at the start of the match, the crowd will get behind them and it will look and sound like the match is being played in Tunis, not Paris.

[b]Tournament 3 (Zadar, Croatia) [/b]

Friday, 30 May
15.30 RUS – ALG (09:30)
17.30 CRO – JPN (11:30)

Saturday, 31 May
15.30 JPN – ALG (09:30)
17.30 CRO – RUS (11:30)

Sunday, 1 June
15.30 JPN – RUS (09:30)
17:30 CRO – ALG (11:30)

[b]Analysis: [/b] Go ahead and pencil in Russia and Croatia to qualify. Heck, you don't need to use a pencil- use a pen. It would be an epic upset if either Algeria or Japan were able to knock off those two sides.

The International Handball Federation is offering free live streaming of all 3 Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournaments this Fri-Sat. The top 2 finishers in each tournament will qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

Link to matches: http://eurovision2.feedroom.com/?fr_chl=b048d0a2723395c8da5a7fae75931104d77a9b37
(Internet Explorer is required)

Note: Make sure you double check your calculations in figuring out what time each match will be played in your time zone.
– Leipzig and Nimes are located in the Central European Time (CET), while Bucharest is one hour ahead of CET.
– Daylight Savings Time has already started in North America, but starts on Sunday in Europe.

For example on the US East Coast, the matches in Germany and France will be 5 hours ahead on Fri/Sat and 6 hours ahead on Sunday. Whereas the matches in Romania will be 6 hours ahead on Fri/Sat and 7 hours ahead on Sunday.

Local times are listed first, US East Coast is in parentheses.

Tournament 1 (Leipzig, Germany)
Date Time Teams
28/03/2008
17:30 CRO – CUB (12:30)**(Cuba is an unknown quantity- Can they keep up with the Europeans?)
19:30 GER – SWE (14:30)

29/03/2008
13:30 SWE – CUB (8:30)
15:40 GER – CRO (10:40)

30/03/2008
13:00 SWE – CRO (7:00) ** (projected battle for 2nd place)
15:10 CUB – GER (9:10)

Tournament 2 (Bucharest, Romania)
Date Time Teams
28/03/2008
15:00 HUN – POL (9:00)** (projected battle for 2nd place)
17:00 ROU – JPN (11:00)

29/03/2008
15:00 JPN – POL (9:00)
17:00 ROU – HUN (11:00)

30/03/2008
15:00 JPN – HUN (8:00)
17:00 POL – ROU (10:00)

Tournament 3 (Nimes, France)
Date Time Teams
28/03/2008
17:00 KOR – CGO (12:00)
19:00 FRA – CIV (14:00)

29/03/2008
16:00 CIV – CGO (11:00)
18:00 FRA – KOR (13:00)

30/03/2008
15:00 CIV – KOR (9:00)
17:00 CGO – FRA (11:00)

The International Court of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) met yesterday to decide whether the results of the original or the replay Asian Olympic Qualification Tournaments would stand. In a split decision, the ICAS ruled in favor of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) for the Women’s tournament and in favor of the International Handball Federation (IHF) in the Men’s tournament. The immediate result is that the Kazakhstan Women and South Korean Men will be Asia’s automatic representatives for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The controversy began last fall when the original Men’s and Women’s Olympic Qualification tournaments were held with surprising upsets taking place. South Korea were big favorites in both tournaments, but the women were upset by Kazakhstan and the men were upended by Kuwait. Following the men’s loss to Kuwait, South Korea took action to protest the outcome through IHF and IOC channels. At the heart of their complaint was alleged biased officiating by inexperienced Jordanian officials. Adding fuel to the fire was the inexplicable last minute decision by the AHF to replace a very experienced German pair with the Jordanian pair. As video of the match with numerous officiating mistakes circulated in Handball circles, a groundswell of opinion formed that strong action was needed to restore Handball’s credibility as an Olympic Sport.

In December, the IHF took action and declared that new tournaments for not only the Men, but also the Women should be staged under full IHF control. The AHF rejected this decision and only Japan and South Korea chose to participate in the replay tournaments. South Korea won both the Men’s and Women’s replay tournaments, but the AHF threatened legal action and the IHF and AHF agreed to resolve the issue through mediation at the ICAS.

According to the official ICAS press release, the ICAS met with AHF and IHF representatives from 0830 to 2400 hrs in a marathon session. The ICAS noted that the IHF decisions in December were invalid due to their failure to follow its own rules for protest as they had not given the AHF an adequate opportunity to respond to the charges. As the IHF and AHF, however, had agreed to address the issue “de novo” or like a new trial, the ICAS was empowered to rule on the decision independently.

Details of the rationale related to the decision were not provided, but it has been speculated that the video evidence and the last minute decision to switch officials made the case for annulling the original men’s tournament, much stronger. The ICAS Press Release indicates the full ruling will be placed on their website as soon as its available.

The ruling in favor of AHF Women’s original tournament has also created a logistical mess for the Olympic Qualification tournaments scheduled for 28-30 March. According to the IHF’s own rules, South Korea, Japan and Qatar should be assigned to participate in the qualification tournament to be hosted by France. The addition of South Korea and Qatar also should result in Congo and Spain being bounced from their tournaments, while Hungary and Croatia would move to different tournaments. In the case of Hungary it would also be a more challenging tournament with Poland as their likely adversary for 2nd place and qualification for the Olympics.

As the tournaments are only 8 days away this will give some teams little notice for travel arrangements, let alone adequate time for scouting and preparation. The IHF has indicated that they are reviewing their options and that further information will be published soon.

ICAS Press Release: http://www.tas-cas.org/d2wfiles/document/586/5048/0/handball20march.pdf
IHF Notice: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1029
Earlier article assessing ramifications of ICAS ruling in favor of the AHF: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.456

The International Handball Federation (IHF) has confirmed which nations will participate in the Olympic Handball Qualifiers this spring. The three tournaments for the Women will be March 28-30 and three tournaments for the Men will be May 30 – June 1. Each tournament will consist of 4 teams and the top 2 teams will qualify for the Olympics in Beijing.

Missing from the IHF release, however, is any consideration as to the potential impact of the Asian Olympic Qualifier controversy on the final placement of teams. The placement of teams from Asia is based on the results of the Asia Olympic Qualifier replay tournaments that were conducted by the IHF. The Asian Handball Federation (AHF), however, does not recognize the results of those tournaments and the IHF and AHF have mutually agreed to let the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) decide on the matter. If ICAS rules in favor of the IHF, the placement of the teams should stand as advertised. Should the ICAS, however, rule in favor of the AHF the tournaments will need to be reshuffled.

For the men the change would be straightforward. If the ICAS rules in favor of the IHF, South Korea automatically qualifies for Beijing and Japan participates in Tournament 3 against Croatia, Russia and Algeria. If the ICAS rules in favor of the AHF, Kuwait would secure the automatic ticket for Beijing and South Korea would take Japan’s spot in Tournament 3.

For the women the change is not so simple. Like the men, if the ICAS rules in favor the IHF, South Korea will automatically qualify for Beijing and Japan will participate in a qualification tournament. In its recent announcement the IHF places Japan in Tournament 3 against France, Hungary and the Congo. If the ICAS rules in favor of the AHF for the Women’s tournament, however, the solution can not be a simple swap out of teams like it was for the Men. This is because South Korea placed 6th at the World Championships and by precedence earns a spot in a qualification tournament by that route, rather than its 2nd place showing in the original Asian Championship.

Further complicating things is the fact that South Korea’s 6th place finish, the highest of any non European team, also resulted in Asia being awarded 2 spots for the Olympic Qualification tournaments. Prior to the decision to conduct a replay tournament this meant that both Japan and Qatar were assigned to those tournaments. With only Japan and South Korea participated in the replay tournament, however, there was no longer a 3rd place team from Asia. The rules that the IHF laid out did not specifically state what was to be done in this instance, but the IHF appears to have decided to award this spot to the 3rd place team (Congo) from the 3rd best continent (Africa).

Here’s a summary of the results from the two Asia tournaments and their impact on Olympic qualification:

[b]Original Tournament[/b]
1) Kazakhstan (Automatic Ticket)
2) South Korea (5th place World Championships)
3) Japan (2nd Place- Asia)
4) Qatar (3rd Place- Asia)

[b]Replay Tournament[/b]
1) South Korea (Automatic Ticket)
2) Japan (2nd Place- Asia)
3) Congo* (3rd place Asia spot given to 3rd place Africa)

So, if the ICAS rules in favor of the IHF the three tournaments will be:

Tournament 1: Germany (2nd WC), Spain (7th WC), Sweden (2nd Europe) Cuba (2nd PATHF)
Tournament 2: Romania (3rd WC), Croatia (6th WC), Cote d’Ivoire (2nd Africa), Poland (3rd Europe)
Tournament 3: France (4th WC), Hungary (5th WC), Japan (2nd Asia), Congo (3rd Africa)

But, if the ICAS rules in favor of the AHF the three tournaments should be:

Tournament 1: Germany (2nd WC), Croatia (7th WC), Sweden (2nd Europe) Cuba (2nd PATHF)
Tournament 2: Romania (3rd WC), Hungary (6th WC), Cote d’Ivoire (2nd Africa), Poland (3rd Europe)
Tournament 3: France (4th WC), South Korea (5th WC), Japan (2nd Asia), Qatar (3rd Asia)

And to throw yet another wrinkle into the mix, the IHF could also decide to swap the 2nd place teams from Africa and Asia. In an IHF press release shortly after the World Championships, this swap was indeed made. Speculation was that the IHF wanted to avoid a tournament with too many Asian teams, but requests to the IHF for clarification were unanswered.

Analysis: It’s not a fait accompli that the ICAS will rule in favor of the IHF. The ICAS decision could be based solely on procedural issues unrelated to the quality of the officiating at the matches in question. Additionally, there appears to be more evidence supporting the decision to replay the Men’s tournament, so it’s quite possible that a split decision whereby the Men’s replay would be recognized, but the Women’s replay wouldn’t could be a possible outcome. Making that decision is also “easier” in that South Korea should be a virtual lock to place either 1st or 2nd in Tournament 3. The end result would be both Kazakhstan and South Korea qualifying for the Olympics. And should that happen, the odd result of this Asian controversy would be Spain getting bounced out of the Olympic Qualification tournaments. Regardless, the ICAS needs to be pressed into making a decision as soon as possible, so that South Korea, if necessary, is ready to participate in the Olympic Qualifier in France on March 28th. Of course the IHF, could schedule some more replays, but I’m guessing that is something they’ll want to avoid!

IHF Tourney Pairings Announcement (Feb 08): http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1021
IHF Tourney Pairings Announcement (Dec 07): http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=218&idart=995

[html] As noted in the previous news item the IHF had announced that the Asian Handball Championships would not count as qualification to the World Championships.  This news item has since been taken off the IHF website.  Here's the text in case you missed it.

"After the recent debacle in Toyota, Japan, that led to the replays of the Asian Olympic Qualifying Games at the end of January 2008, the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) refused to accept the IHF's control of the Men`s Asian Championship planned to take place in Esfahan, Iran, from 17 – 26 February. The winning team would normally qualify for the 2009 Men`s World Championship in Croatia. Following the AHF`s refusal to accept the IHF delegates` final say in the selection of the referees, the IHF had no choice but to declare that the results of this tournament will not qualify the winners for the World Championship.

As stressed by IHF President Dr Moustafa just recently during the press-conference in Lillehammer, Norway, in January, the IHF's supervision of continental qualifying tournaments had to be enforced on all the continents to ensure fairness and correctness in sport. The necessity for this measure has been reconfirmed at the Council Meeting of December 2007 and was already put into action at the Pan-American, African and European Championships.

The Asian qualifications for the 2009 Men`s World Championship will be held separately under the umbrella of the IHF. "
[/html]

[html] If you read this cryptic notice http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=1006 on the IHF Website you may have been asking this question.
“IHF obtains interim injunction against misleading media coverage

The district court of the city of Hamburg approved the IHF's appeal for an interim injunction against the journalist Erik Eggers (Landgericht Hamburg, 4.1.2008, Az: 324 O 1127/07). Eggers had published false allegations concerning IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa in various well known Swiss and German publications.

Should Eggers continue his misleading reporting, he faces a fine of up to 250.000 Euro or detention.”

The short answer: Erik Eggers is a German journalist who has been in the forefront in regards to media coverage on the controversy surrounding the Asian Olympic Qualification. At the IHF press conference held at the end of the Women’s World Championships in France he confronted IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa as to why the IHF had not intervened in the Asian continental qualification outcome. Additionally, he has appeared on Germany Television to discuss the issue.
He is, however, not the only reporter to address this controversy and it is not clear why he alone is being singled out and what specific allegations concerning Dr Moustafa caused the IHF to take formal legal action.

International Press Association Article on IHF News Conference: http://www.aipsmedia.com/index.php?page=news&cod=1730&tp=n

German News Report with Erik Eggers being interviewed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JuWDVUlS_4 [/html]

This year’s World Championships had its fair share of surprises from the upstart nations outside of Europe. Here’s some analysis and numbers to back up just how each of the continents performed and where they stand relative to Europe and each other.

[b]Europe[/b]

Europe’s record vs. the Rest of the World: 31-1-10
Average Match Final Score: 31.5 – 25.0
Average Match Goal Differential: +6.5

Europe is still the top continent for sure, but the Women are not near as dominating as their male counterparts who were 28-1-1. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.266 And, if you compare Europe’s record vs. the world for the last 3 championships a definite trend downward is occurring.

2003: 34-0-5 (87.1 win percentage)
2005: 32-0-7 (82.1 win percentage)
2007: 31-1-10 (73.8 win percentage)

In 2003, only South Korean could manage a victory against the Europeans. In 2005, Brazil joined South Korea in passing through to the main round and a raw, but athletically gifted Angola beat Slovenia and kept their other games close against the European powers. In 2007, the trend continued with 4 teams (South Korea, Angola, Brazil and Tunisia) beating European sides. Even more revealing was that the average margin of victory was only 6.5 goals. And if you were to throw out the two teams that were most overmatched, Australia and Paraguay, the number drops even further. Several teams managed to scare the Europeans and those easy games in preliminary play where teams traditionally rested are becoming fewer and fewer. All this being said, though, a 73.8 win percentage is still pretty high and the 12 European sides all finished 16th place or better.

[b]Africa[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 6-0-9
Average Match Final Score: 28.3 – 30.7
Average Match Goal Differential: -2.4

Record vs. Rest of the World (non-Europe): 4-0-1
Average Match Final Score: 32.6 – 28.4
Average Match Goal Differential: 4.2

Thanks largely to Angola’s 6-4 overall record and 5-3 record against Europe, Africa had the second best overall continental performance. And with the exception of their 27-40 loss against the eventual champions Russia, Angola was competitive in all of its matches. Even more compelling is the upward trajectory of Angolan performance from the past 3 tournaments

2003: 1-4
2005: 2-3
2007: 6-4

In 2003, Angola likely left the tournament with the realization that the European teams were better, but not that much better. In 2005 they narrowed the gap further, beating a European team (Slovenia), but they just couldn’t close the deal in their other matches. In 2007, however, they came battle tested and ready to do the little things that make the difference between winning and losing tight matches at the highest level. For those who sometime question the point of having weaker nations play mismatches against the European powers, one should consider just what Angola has accomplished. Only 5 years ago they were struggling to rebuild their nation after a 27 year civil war. According to the UN (from this New York Times article in 2003 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?es=9C02EEDF173EF933A05754C0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1), “80 percent of people have no access to basic medical care. More than two-thirds have no running water. A whole generation of children has never opened a schoolbook. Life expectancy is less than 40 years. Three in ten children will die before reaching their fifth birthday.”

Now five years later they are the 7th best team in the World. But it wasn’t just the Angolans that proved their worth. Congo was competitive in several games and Tunisia knocked off Austria. And in match-ups against non European teams, Africa had a 4-0-1 record with the only loss being Angola’s loss to South Korea. Time will tell whether this is the high water mark for Africa Handball or whether its just the start of a trend to bigger and better things.

[b]Asia[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 3-0-12
Average Match Final Score: 26.4 – 30.4
Average Match Goal Differential: -4

Record vs. Rest of the World (non-Europe) 7-0-4
Average Match Final Score: 31.1 -22.7
Average Match Goal Differential: +8.4

As usual, South Korea carried the flag for Asia with 3 victories over European teams and a 6th place overall finish. China and Japan kept their games vs. the Europeans respectable while Kazakhstan suffered double digit losses to Croatia and France. When it came to matches against non-European sides, Asia had a mixed record. Three of their 7 victories came at Paraguay’s expense and in 3 head to head match ups between the 2nd tier nations of Africa and Asia (Congo-Kazakhstan; Congo-Japan; Tunisia-China) they lost all 3. So Asia can look upon 2007 as some progress, but they also have to recognize that Africa is now the number 2 continent.

[b]Pan America[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 1-1-8
Average Match Final Score: 20.9 – 33.4
Average Match Goal Differential: -12.5

Record vs. Rest of the World (non- Europe): 4-0-4
Average Match Final Score: 21.4 – 25.6
Average Match Goal Differential: -4.2

In 2005 Brazil was the surprise team of the tournament with wins over Austria, Poland and France as they advanced to the Main Round for the first time and finished 8th overall. This time they were a mild disappointment as their Preliminary Round loss to Macedonia sent them to the President’s Cup and an eventual 14th place finish. The biggest consolation they can take is their Preliminary Round draw against the eventual Russian champions which showed that they can still play with the big dogs. Next time around they are sure to remember the Macedonia loss and the fact that one slip up can cost you.

Outside of Brazil, Pan-American performance was dismal, with almost all of Argentina, Dominican Republic and Paraguay defeats being lopsided double digit losses. In fact, the only non-Brazilian victories coming at the expense of Australia.

[b]Oceania[/b]

Record vs. Europe: 0-0-2
Average Match Final Score: 10 – 35
Average Match Goal Differential: -25

Record vs. Rest of the World (Non-Europe): 0-0-4
Average Match Final Score: 11.5 – 27.3
Average Match Goal Differential: -15.8

It might not seem plausible to find any silver lining in the Aussies 0-0-6 record and 24th place, but in comparison to their 2005 performance they’ve made quantifiable progress. In St Petersburg, Australia were also winless in five outings, but their opponents averaged 47.2 goals and were beaten by an average of 36.4 goals. This time around, team Australia held their opponents to a more modest 29.8 goals/game and their average margin of defeat was 18.8 goals. Big numbers for sure, but no one was able to paste a 57-7 drubbing on them like Hungary did two years ago. And for a memorable 25 minutes they held their own against Macedonia in arguably the biggest “you gotta be kidding me” moment of the tournament. Continued improvement could be a challenge, but if several players find their way to competitive European leagues it’s conceivable. Who knows? Maybe they could knock off an overconfident Angolan team four years from now.

Match Scores grouped by Continents are in the Extended Post

[b]Africa vs. Europe[/b]
Angola 33, Austria 22
Angola 26, Norway 32
Angola 29, France 27
Angola 34, Croatia 28
Angola 33, Macedonia 25
Angola 27, Russia 40
Angola 33, Germany 36
Angola 37, Hungary 36
Congo 20, Hungary 33
Congo 24, Spain 29
Congo 28, Ukraine 31
Tunisia 30, Austria 23
Tunisia 23, Poland 29
Tunisia 21, Romania 39
Tunisia 26, Ukraine 31

[b]Africa vs. Rest of World [/b]
Angola 41, Dominican Republic 20
Angola 33, South Korea 41
Congo 27, Kazakhstan 26
Congo 32, Japan 28
Tunisia 30, China 27

[b]Asia vs. Europe[/b]
China 20, Poland 27
China 29, Romania 31
Japan 31, Hungary 35
Japan 29, Spain 36
Kazakhstan 20, Austria 25
Kazakhstan 25, Croatia 35
Kazakhstan 20, France 31
South Korea 25, France 26
South Korea 31, Hungary 26
South Korea 24, Norway 35
South Korea 37, Poland 33
South Korea 27, Romania 31
South Korea 26, Spain 28
South Korea 26, Germany 32
South Korea 26, Ukraine 25

[b]Asia vs. Rest of World[/b]
China 27, Tunisia 30
China 35, Dominican Republic 16
China 23, Paraguay 14
Japan 28, Congo 32
Japan 31, Argentina 20
Japan 36, Paraguay 8
Kazakhstan 26, Argentina 22
Kazakhstan 19, Brazil 36
Kazakhstan 26, Congo 27
South Korea 41, Angola 33
South Korea 50, Paraguay 12

[b]Pan-America vs. Europe[/b]
Brazil 38, Austria 19
Dominican Republic 19, Austria 32
Argentina 18, Croatia 35
Argentina 12, France 37
Paraguay 12, Germany 45
Brazil 22, Macedonia 26
Dominican Republic 19, Norway 42
Brazil 31, Russia 31
Brazil 21, Ukraine 24
Paraguay 17, Ukraine 43

[b]Pan-America vs. Rest of World[/b]
Dominican Republic 20, Angola 41
Argentina 31, Australia 9
Brazil 36, Australia 9
Dominican Republic 26, Australia 14
Paraguay 16, Australia 14
Dominican Republic 16, China 35
Paraguay 14, China 23
Argentina 20, Japan 31
Paraguay 8, Japan 36
Argentina 22, Kazakhstan 26
Brazil 36, Kazakhstan 19
Paraguay 12, South Korea 50

[b]Oceania vs. Europe[/b]
Australia 13, Macedonia 30
Australia 7, Russia 40

[b]Oceania vs. Rest of World[/b]
Australia 9, Argentina 31
Australia 9, Brazil 36
Australia 14, Dominican Republic 26
Australia 14, Paraguay 16

From Handball-World.com:

The Asian Qualification Tournaments for the Olympic Games for both the women and the mens teams will be replayed. This was announced after todays meeting of the IHF-council in Paris. Both tournaments will be replayed by the end of January 2008. Additionally, the IHF announce further states that, “The organisation and technical details of the tournaments will be under the full responsibility of the IHF and further information will be released within the next 72 hours”.

“We have come to a positive conclusion for the sport of Handball, which follows on from the huge success of the Womens World Championship in Paris", said IHF-President Hassan Moustafa who is under heavy pressure in regards to this issue. As previously reported at handball-world.com, the officiating at the Qualification tournaments in Almaty, Kazakhstan (women) and Toyota, Japan (men) had several grave irregularities. EHF-President Tor Lian took an unequivocal stand on the issue and he is quoted in the Danish news-portal tv2.dk, as saying: “About the worst that could have happened was if a majority would have voted against a rematch. In that case we would have been forced to reconsider our position and I believe that our colleagues from the other continents would have done the same".

[b]Commentary: [/b] This is simply an unprecedented decision, not only for Handball, but as far as I know, for any sport. I’ve seen the video and there was no question in my mind that the Men’s Tournament result was tainted. But, I am surprised at the bold decision to replay the entire tournaments and the implicit acknowledgment that goes with it- namely that the tournaments were fixed. The short statement on the IHF has no mention of reprimands or penalties, but surely they will follow.

I’m also a little surprised that the IHF decided for a replay of the Women’s Tournament. In the Korean news film there is some footage from that tournament and some complaints from the players. As well, it is also pointed out that Japan hadn’t beaten Korea in 31 years. In that tournament, Japan beat South Korea, South Korea beat Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan beat Japan. Those 3 teams also beat winless Qatar, so they were level on points, but Kazakhstan won on head to head goal differential amongst the 3 teams. While a big upset, it didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that Japan couldn’t surprise Korea on a neutral court in Central Asia. As well, it seemed possible to me that Kazakhstan could lose only by 1 on their home floor. And I don’t know much about the inner politics of the Asian Handball Federation, but there’s no natural cultural alliance between the former Soviet republic and the Arab gulf states. So, I’m guessing there’s more evidence than meets the eye and that evidenced warranted the replay. But, I would also guess that some Kazakhs are not very happy right now.

IHF Notice: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=218&idart=998
Asian Women’s Olympic Qualification Final Results: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.377
Korean News Video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-908556008345758262

With the Main Round now over, the dust has settled a little on the Olympic Qualifications Tournaments

[b]#2 and #3 for Europe:[/b] As Russia, France, Germany and Hungary are all guaranteed to place somewhere between 1st to 7th, Sweden is locked into the 2nd place Europe spot. The 3rd place slot will boil down to whether Croatia wins the 9th place game (and secures the 7th place WC slot). If Croatia wins, Poland will take the 3rd place Europe slot. If Croatia loses, Croatia will take the 3rd place Europe slot.

[b]#2 and #3 for Asia:[/b] Thanks to South Korea squeaking into the quarterfinals, Japan is now bumped up to the #2 Asia slot and will play in Tournament 2. Qatar moves up to #3.

[b]#1, #2 and #3 for Africa: [/b] The African Championships will be played next month, and based on their performance at the World Championships its hard to imagine that the host, Angola, won’t take the title and the automatic spot in the Olympics. Tunisia and Congo will be the favorites for 2nd and 3rd.

[b]Ranking the Continents: [/b] With Brazil’s failure to qualify for the Main Round the PATHF finished 4th among the continents. This leaves the favored Europeans along with Angola representing Africa and South Korea representing Asia. The Angolans and South Koreans could win it all, but for now I’ll pencil in Europe as the #1 Continent. This means that the 2nd best continent will be determined by which nation places higher, South Korea or Angola. Should South Korea place higher then Angola, lightly regarded Qatar would be placed in tournament 1. If Angola places higher, Congo or Tunisia are the two African nations that will likely finish 2nd or 3rd in the African Championship.

[b]9th Place Equals 7th Place and that Game Will be Pivotal for Spain, Croatia and Poland: [/b] Norway has already qualified, so they won’t count in the standings, and Angola will be very heavily favored to win the African Championships, so they, in all likelihood, won’t count either. This means that the 9th place game between Spain and Croatia should secure the 7th place WC spot. For Spain this is their only chance to qualify, so this is a must win situation. For Croatia, they’ve already probably qualified for Tournament 2 as the #3 European team, but they would probably prefer the competition in Tournament 1. Both Tournaments 1 and 2 will be hosted by a top team (Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea), but 2nd place at Tournament 1 will be easier and likely come down to beating Sweden on a neutral floor. Whereas Tournament 2 will require beating another team from that same top team grouping of Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea. And watching all of this will be Poland, who can only qualify with a Croatian victory.

[b]Looking Ahead: The Battle for Bronze?:[/b] As previously mentioned, this game might be worth losing, but it’s still impossible to predict. As Norway, Angola, and possibly Russia won’t count in the standings it’s hard to say which placing game will actually be for 3rd or 4th place

[b]Current Possibilities (Assumes Angola wins African Championships)[/b]

[b]Tournament 1: [/b]
2nd Place WC (Host) (Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea)
7th Place WC Croatia or Spain
2nd Place Europe: [b]Sweden[/b]
2nd Place PATHF: [b]Cuba[/b]

[b]Tournament 2: [/b]
3rd Place WC (Host) (Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea)
6th Place WC (Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea)
2nd Place Africa: TBD in January (likely either Congo or Tunisia)
3rd Place from the Continental Championship for the best Continent at WC (Croatia or Poland)

[b]Tournament 3: [/b]
4th Place WC (Host) (Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea)
5th Place WC (Russia, France, Germany, Hungary, Romania or South Korea)
2nd Place Asia: [b]Japan[/b]
3rd Place from the Continental Championship for the 2nd best Continent at WC (likely either Congo, Tunisia or Qatar)

As you can see, there are still a lot of variables. After each day’s games it will become a little clearer. We’ll continue to update the narrowing possibilities at this link: https://teamhandballnews.com/page18.html

Going into the final day of Main Group play, here are the possibilities for the final standing of each Group:

[b]Main Group I: [/b] Norway is locked in as the #1 Seed and France is locked in as the #4 Seed, so they will play a meaningless warm up game on Tuesday. Russia and Angola will play head to head for 2nd place. In the event of a draw Russia will take 2nd on goal differential. Croatia and Macedonia will play for 5th place with the winner having the opportunity to play for 9th place. And as Norway has already qualified for the Olympics as the European Champion and Angola, is likely to do the same for Africa, the 9th place winner could very well be for the 7th and last spot in an Olympic Qualification tournament.

1) Norway
2) Russia or Angola
3) Russia or Angola
4) France
5) Croatia or Macedonia
6) Croatia or Macedonia

[b]Main Group 2:[/b] The picture in Main Group II is a little less clear. Germany currently leads the group with 7 points and Romania and Hungary are right behind with 6 points each. The winner of the Germany – Romania game will likely take 1st place. The loser will take 2nd or 3rd place depending on how well Hungary does against South Korea. Hungary will likely get 2nd place if they beat South Korea and 3rd place if they lose. And theoretically, Hungary can still get 1st place if Germany and Romania draw, but they would have to pick up 10 goals in goal differential. Spain controls their own destiny and with a win or draw against Poland they are through to the quarterfinals. South Korea needs to beat Poland and hope for a Spanish loss to make the quarterfinals.

1) Germany, Romania or Hungary
2) Germany, Romania or Hungary
3) Germany, Romania or Hungary
4) Spain or South Korea
5) Spain or South Korea
6) Poland

[b]Potential Quarter Final Pairings[/b]

[b]Upper Bracket[/b]
I-1st Place vs. II-4th Place (Norway) vs. (Spain or South Korea)
II-2nd Place vs. I-3rd Place (Germany, Romania or Hungary) vs. (Russia or Angola)

[b]Lower Bracket[/b]
II-1st Place vs. I-4th Place (Germany, Romania or Hungary) vs. France
I-2nd place vs. II-3rd place (Russia or Angola) vs. (Germany, Romania or Hungary)

No major surprises in the end, although Brazil almost scored a big win against the defending champions. Here‘s a quick summary of day 3:

[b]Group A: [/b] France took 2 points into the Main Round with a narrow 28-26 victory over Croatia. Kazakhstan beat Argentina 26-22 in a battle for 3rd place and seeding in the consolation President’s Cup.

[b]Group B: [/b] A gallant effort by Brazil resulted in a draw match vs. Russia. Brazil needed a 4 goal victory in order to advance and at several points in the match they pressed the lead to 5 goals, but Russia kept coming back. With five minutes left Brazil led 30-27, but Russia rallied yet again for the final score of 31-31. As a result of their earlier loss to Macedonia, the surprise team from the last Championship will now do no better than 13th place. Macedonia took care of Australia 30-13, but the team from down under actually were leading 9-6 after 24 minutes until the wheels fell off and Macedonia asserted themselves. Games are 60 minutes long, but this first half performance should give the Aussies a little bit of confidence as they head in to the President’s Cup.

[b]Group C: [/b]Norway punched Austria’s ticket to the President’s cup with a convincing 33-20 win. Angola sealed their status as the surprise team with a 41-20 victory over the Dominican Republic.

[b]Group D: [/b]Romania took 2 points to the Main Round with a 38-33 win over Poland. China, which challenged Romania in its opener continued its downward slide losing to Tunisia, 30-27. Tunisia will play for 13th place and China can do no better than 19th.

[b]Group E:[/b] Hungary and Spain played to a 26-26 draw, so both teams will take 1 point into the Main Round. Congo beat Japan 32-28, making that 2 victories for the African continent over Asia.

[b]Group F: [/b] Germany took 2 points into the Main Round with a 32-26 victory over South Korea. Ukraine easily beat Paraguay 43-17 to take 3rd place in Group F

[b]Main Round Groups and Standing (Points and GD after 1 Match)
Group I: [/b]
Norway 2 +6
Russia 2 +5
France 2 +2
Croatia 0 -2
Macedonia 0 -5
Angola 0 -6

[b]Group II: [/b]
Germany 2 +6
Romania 2 +5
Hungary 1 0
Spain 1 0
Poland 0 -5
South Korea 0 -6

[b]President’s Cup: 13th Place Brackets[/b]
Group I: Kazakhstan, Brazil, Austria
Group II: Tunisia, Congo, Ukraine

[b]President’s Cup: 19th Place Brackets[/b]
Group I: Argentina, Australia, Dominican Republic
Group II: China, Japan, Paraguay

Three months after the controversial Men’s Olympic Qualification Match between Kuwait and South Korea, the International Handball Federation has responded with an official statement addressing the match and media reports, such as the one previously written at handball.world.com. http://www.handball-welt.de/o.red.c/news.php?GID=1&auswahl=11833

The official statement confirms many of the elements previously reported including the questionable replacement of the experienced German referees with inexperienced Jordanian referees just prior to the start of the match, as well as the on court intervention of the IHF representative, Alexander Kozhukov, during the match to reprimand the referees.

The statement indicates that the match was discussed at an IHF Executive Committee meeting in September and will be further addressed by the IHF Council in Paris on 17-18 Dec, just after the completion of the World Championships. Until that meeting the IHF will make no further pronouncement.

Additionally, the statement emphatically states that the IOC is not considering the removal of Handball from the Olympic program and that this controversy is one of the reasons why the IHF should retain organizational control of handball qualification events.

IHF Official Statement: http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=218&idart=968