Poland's victory over Slovenia and Denmark's victory over the Czech Republic creates a monster bracket in Cologne with the 4 teams favored to win it all forced to slug it out, just to reach the final.

[b]Hamburg Bracket[/b]
Group I (1st) vs. Group II (4th)
Poland vs. Russia 1730 CET, 30 Jan

Group I (3rd) vs. Group II (2nd)
Iceland vs. Denmark 2000 CET, 30 January

[b]Cologne Bracket[/b]
Group II (1st) vs. Group I (4th)
Croatia vs. France 2000 CET, 30 January

Group II (3rd) vs. Group I (2nd)
Spain or Denmark vs. Germany 1730 CET, 30 January

We’ve gotten out our calculator and slide ruler and here are the possible outcomes based on winning and losing. Some of the same logic applies with draws, but the permutations become pretty challenging.

There will be some score board watching tomorrow and losing might very well be a good thing for some teams. In particular, the winner of the Spain-Croatia match could end up with a quarter-final match against a very dangerous French team.

[b]Group 1[/b]

[b]Ranking when teams are level on points- Used to determine the logic below [/b]

Germany, Poland: Poland ranked higher- Head to Head victory
Iceland, Poland: Poland ranked higher- Head to Head victory
Germany, France: Germany ranked higher- Head to Head victory
Iceland, France: Iceland ranked higher- Head to Head victory
German, Poland, France: France ranked 1st, Germany ranked 2nd, Poland ranked 3rd- Common games GD
Iceland, Poland, France: Iceland ranked 1st , France ranked 2nd, Poland ranked 3rd- Common games GD

[b]Germany[/b]
– If Germany wins and Poland loses, then Germany places 1st
– If Germany wins and Poland wins, then Germany places 2nd
– If Germany loses, Poland loses and France loses, then Germany places 3rd
– If Germany loses, Poland loses and France wins, then Germany places 3rd (3 way tie- GD tiebreaker)

[b]Iceland[/b]
– If Iceland wins and Poland loses, then Iceland places 1st
– If Iceland wins and Poland wins, then Iceland places 2nd
– If Iceland loses, Poland loses and France wins, then Iceland places 2nd (3 way tie- GD tiebreaker)
– If Iceland loses and Poland wins, then Iceland places 3rd
– If Iceland loses, Poland loses and France loses, then Iceland places 3rd

[b]Poland[/b]
– If Poland wins, then Poland places 1st
– If Poland loses and France loses, then Poland places 2nd
– If Poland loses, Germany loses and France wins, then Poland places 4th (3 way tie- GD tiebreaker)
– If Poland loses, Iceland loses, and France wins, then Poland places 4th (3 way tie- GD tiebreaker)

[b]France[/b]
– If France wins, Poland loses and Germany loses, then France places 2nd (3 way tie- GD tiebreaker)
– If France wins, Poland loses and Iceland loses, then France places 3rd (3 way tie- GD tiebreaker)
– If France wins and Poland wins, then France places 4th
– If France loses, then France places 4th

Slovenia and Tunisia have both been eliminated.

[b]Group 2[/b]

[b]Ranking when teams are level on points- Used to determine the logic below:[/b]

Croatia-Spain: Spain ranked higher- head to head victory
Spain-Hungary: Spain ranked higher- head to head victory
Spain-Denmark: Denmark ranked higher- head to head victory
Denmark-Hungary: Hungary ranked higher- head to head victory
Denmark-Russia: Denmark ranked higher- head to head victory
Hungary- Russia: Russia ranked higher- head to head victory
Spain-Hungary-Denmark: Denmark ranked 1st, Hungary ranked 2nd, Spain ranked 3rd (common games GD

Hungary-Denmark-Russia: Results of common games:
Denmark-Russia 26-24
Denmark-Hungary 29-30
Russia-Hungary (Not yet played)
– If Russia wins by 1: Denmark ranked 1st, Hungary ranked 2nd, Russia ranked 3rd
– If Russia wins by 2: Denmark ranked 1st, Russia ranked 2nd, Hungary ranked 3rd
– If Russia wins by 3 and scores 32 goals: Russia ranked 1st, Denmark ranked 2nd, Hungary ranked 3rd
– If Russian wins by 3 and scores 30 goals: Denmark ranked 1st, Russia ranked 2nd, Hungary ranked 3rd
If Russia wins by 4 or more: Russia ranked 1st, Denmark ranked 2nd and Hungary ranked 3rd

[b]Croatia[/b]
– If Croatia wins, then Croatia places 1st
– If Croatia loses, then Croatia places 2nd

[b]Spain[/b]
– If Spain wins, then Spain places 1st
– If Spain loses, Hungary wins and Denmark loses, then Spain places 2nd
– If Spain loses, Hungary loses and Denmark wins then Spain places 3rd
– If Spain loses, Hungary wins and Denmark wins, then Spain places 4th

[b]Hungary[/b]
– If Hungary wins and Spain loses, then Hungary places 3rd
– If Hungary loses by 1 goal and Denmark loses, then Hungary places 4th
– If Hungary loses by 2 goals and Denmark loses, then Hungary places 5th
– If Hungary loses and Denmark wins then Hungary places 5th

[b]Denmark[/b]
– If Denmark wins and Spain loses, then Denmark places 2nd
– If Denmark loses and Hungary loses by 2 goals, then Denmark places 3rd
– If Denmark loses and Hungary loses by 4 goals, then Denmark places 4th
– If Denmark loses and Hungary wins, then Denmark places 4th
– If Denmark wins, Spain wins and Hungary wins, then Denmark places 4th

[b]Russia[/b]
– If Russia wins and Denmark wins, then Russia places 4th
– If Russia wins by 2 goals or more and Denmark loses, then Russia places 4th
– If Russia wins by 1 goal and Denmark loses, then Russia places 5th
– If Russia loses, Russia places 5th

The Czech Republic has been eliminated.

[b]Group 1[/b]
FRA-GER 26 : 29 (9-14)
ISL-SLO 32 : 31 (17-15)
POL-TUN 40 : 31 (17:13)

[b]Standings[/b]
Iceland 6 +13
Germany 6 + 14
Poland 6 +4
France 4 +12
Slovenia 2 -12
Tunisia 0 -29

Germany held off a late French rally to win 29-26 and moves into a first place tie with Iceland and Poland. Germany had a stellar first half holding France to 9 goals. French pressure in the 2nd half gradually ate into the German lead, but two penalty shot saves by Henning Fritz had the French side once again questioning their supposed front runner status. The French defense was less then stellar and an 11% save percentage (3 stops on 27 shots) from all star goalie Thierry Omeyer is certainly an anomaly. Assuming France bounces back against Tunisia they will like finish 3rd or 4th setting up a monster quarter final vs. either Croatia or Spain.

Iceland also held off a late rally from Slovenia setting up a showdown vs. Germany for Group 1 supremacy. While Poland easily defeated Tunisia to secure a ticket for the Quarter Finals

[b]Group 2[/b]
CRO-CZE 31 : 29 (14-12)
HUN-ESP 31 : 33 (15-17)
DEN-RUS 26 : 24 (16:14)

[b]Standings[/b]
Croatia 8 +16
Spain 6 +8
Denmark 4 +3
Hungary 4 -5
Russia 2 -7
Czech Republic 0 -15

Croatia continued their winning ways as they eliminated Czech Republic from quarterfinal qualification with a 31-29 win. Spain took care of Hungary and can take first place by beating Croatia tomorrow. Denmark secured a ticket to the final 8 with a victory over Russia. Russia still can advance, but they need a 2 goal win tomorrow vs. Hungary.

President’s Cup (Places 13-18)
NOR-KOR 34 : 32 (17-17)
UKR-ARG 23 : 22 (13:8)

The European Sides again had their way in Lemgo, but both South Korea and Argentina put up a good fight. Norway and Ukraine will play tomorrow for 13th place while South Korea and Argentina will play for 15th.

[b]President’s Cup (Places 19-24)[/b]
AUS-BRA 23 : 30 (6-17)
ANG-MOR 28 : 32 (14-16)

As earlier reported Brazil took care of Australia 30-23. Morocco defeated their African rivals to take first place in Group 4. Morocco will take on Brazil for 19th place, while Angola will take on Greenland for 21st.

Brazil continued it’s President’s Cup wining streak with a 30-23 defeat over Australia and will play the winner of Morocco-Angola for 19th place on Sunday. The teams traded goals and were tied up 3-3 after 10 minutes. Brazil then ran off 9 straight unanswered goals and took an eventual 17-6 lead to the locker room at half-time.

The second half was a different story, as Australia arguably played their best half of the tournament, outscoring Brazil 17-13. In particular, a six minute stretch where Australia ran off 8 straight goals to cut the lead to 6 had the German crowd cheering on the Aussies. Brazil woke up, however, and the teams traded goals over the last 5 minutes of the match for the eventual scoreline of 23-30. Team Australia had a balanced scoring attack with 6 goals from Namanja Subotic, 5 for Darryl McCormack and 4 for Josh Parmenter. And goalkeeper Ogi Latinovic had a great match between the posts and was selected Man of the Match. Quite an honor, as a player from the winning team usually is awarded this honor.

Australia has one more opportunity to pick up a win as they take on winless Qatar for 23rd place on Sunday.

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This afternoon I was invited to a reception hosted by the Greenland Handball Federation. It was a great opportunity to get to know a little bit more about Greenland and their unquestionable passion for handball. Here are 3 short interviews:

Greenland Handball Federation President Palle Jerimiassen: https://teamhandballnews.com/wp-content/uploads/LegacyPodcasts/PalleDerimiassen.mp3

Head Coach Jakob Andreasen:https://teamhandballnews.com/wp-content/uploads/LegacyPodcasts/JakobAndreasen.mp3

National Team Player Minik Dahl Hoegh: https://teamhandballnews.com/wp-content/uploads/LegacyPodcasts/MinikDahlHoegh.mp3

Side note: After our interview, Coach Andreasen indicated that Greenland is planning on competing in the PANAM Under 21 Championships. With seven players on their Senior roster eligible, including their leading scorer, they could be a force to reckon with.

The IHF has introduced new regulations for qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Previously, the teams placing 1st to 7th would directly qualify for the Olympics along with the host nation, and the Champions from each of the 4 Continental Federations. This format has been replaced with the introduction of qualification tournaments and now only the World Champion will earn a direct qualification spot. Teams at the World Championship will still have something to play for in terms of the Olympics though, as spots 2nd – 7th will earn spots in the 3 pre-Olympic qualification tournaments. And due to the distinct possibility that next year’s European Champion may very well also occupy one of the spots from 2nd- 7th, 8th place could also earn a bid as well. So, in short, the 12 teams participating in the Main Round are not only competing for quarterfinal berths they are also playing for spots in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments. And on top of that, the teams that reach the semifinals will earn the right to host an Olympic Qualification tournament.

The official qualification regulation is here: https://teamhandballnews.com/download.php?view.30

We’ve also added an Olympics Qualification Page, which will be updated as teams qualify. https://teamhandballnews.com/page.php?17

[b]Group 1[/b]
TUN-GER 28 : 35
POL-ISL 35 : 33
FRA-SLO 33 : 19

[b]Standings[/b]
France 4 +15
Iceland 4 +12
Germany 4 + 11
Poland 4 -5
Slovenia 2 -13
Tunisia 0 -20

Christian Zeitz paced Germany with 7 goals and “Man of the Match” Henning Fritz had a stellar game between the posts to beat Tunisia 35-28 in front of a sell out crowd of 12,000 in Dortmund. Thanks to Poland knocking off group leader Iceland they move into a 4-way tie at the top of the group. France it appears to have shaken off their preliminary round loss to Iceland as they won their second straight match in convincing fashion, 33-19 against Slovenia. With the 4 way tie for first, no team has booked a ticket for the quarterfinals yet and every team, but Tunisia still controls their own destiny. And even Tunisia can advance, but they will need some help.

[b]Group 2[/b]
CZE-RUS 26 : 30
CRO-HUN 25 : 18
DEN-ESP 27 : 23

[b]Standings[/b]
Croatia 6 +14
Spain 4 +6
Hungary 4 -3
Denmark 2 +1
Russia 2 -5
Czech Republic 0 -13

Croatia became the first team to book a ticket for the quarterfinals by winning the battle for first place against Hungary. Russia kept their hopes for advancing alive with a big win over the Czech Republic and Denmark finally looked like a contender as they knocked off previously unbeaten Spain. Saturday night sets up a showdown between Russia and Denmark. Currently tied for 4th place the winner of that match will be in a good position to qualify while the loser will likely be looking at playing for 9th place.

[b]President’s Cup (Places 13-18)[/b]
KUW-ARG 25 : 28
EGY-KOR 30 : 36

Argentina knocked off Kuwait to set up a match against Ukraine Saturday for Group 1 supremacy. South Korea continued Egypt’s woes with a 36-30 victory. Korea will now play Norway Saturday for first place in Group 2. Egypt and Kuwait will play for 17th place on Sunday. When you think that 1 more goal against the Czech Republic would have placed Egypt in the Main Round it has to be disappointing to now play for 17th.

[b]President’s Cup (Places 19-24)[/b]
GRL-BRA 30 : 33
QAT-MOR 27 : 44

Morocco blitzed Qatar 44-27 in the first match of the afternoon. The evening match on paper between Greenland and Brazil could have been predicted as more of the same as those two teams had already met this past summer in the semifinals of the Pan-American Championships with Brazil winning 37-17. A spirited Greenland contingent, supplemented by arriving German fans, however, cheered on Greenland as they gave Brazil all they could handle. Brazil scoring was led by Man of the Match, Fernando Pacheco with 9 goals while Greenlander Angutimmarik Kreutzmann also scored 9 goals to bring his tournament goal scoring lead to 43. (No, that’s not a misprint, a Greenlander is leading all scorers). Pan-American Handball followers should get used to hearing the name, Angutimmarik Kreutzmann for many years to come. At only 18 years of age, chances are he’s going to be around awhile.

[b]Group 1[/b]
SLO-GER 29 : 35
TUN-ISL 30 : 36
FRA-POL 31 : 22

Germany and France got back on track with key victories over Slovenia and Poland respectively. Iceland beat Tunisia and is in sole possession of 1st place with 4 points. France was trailing 11-12 at the half, but came alive in the 2nd half and outscored the Poles 20-10 to eventually win 31-22. The German and French victories creates a logjam at 2nd place with 4 teams with 2 points.

[b]Group 2[/b]
CZE-HUN 25 : 28
ESP-RUS 33 : 29
DEN-CRO 26 : 28

All 3 teams which entered the main round with 2 points earned victories Wednesday night to create pool of haves and have nots. Spain, Croatia Hungary have 4 points a piece and are in good shape to make the quarterfinals. Denmark, Russia and the Czech Republic have yet to garner a point. Tonight Hungary and Croatia will meet in battle of unbeatens while Russia and the Czech Republic will play in a match for survival.

[b]President’s Cup (Places 13-18)[/b]
KUW-UKR 23 : 33
EGY-NOR 18 : 27

Ukraine and Norway, the 2 European sides which failed to make the main round took out their frustrations on Kuwait and Egypt respectively.

[b]President’s Cup (Places 19-24)[/b]
GRL-AUS 34 : 25
ANG-QAT 33-27

The President’s Cup opened today in Halle/Westfalen, Germany with Greenland getting its first victory of the tournament against Australia by the score of 34-25. Greenland dominated the game with excellent backcourt play from Angutimmarik Kreutzmann who scored 15 goals on 23 shots and Minik Dahl Hoegh who added 9 goals on 13 shots. Darryl McCormack led Australia with 11 goals.

The atmosphere at Gerry Weber Arena was excellent with vocal contingents from both nations being supplemented by a German crowd awaiting their Main Round match vs. Slovenia

Audio: [file={e_BASE}request.php?26]Australian Coach Morten Fjeldstad on the importance of the President’s Cup[/file]

Audio: [file={e_BASE}request.php?27]Post Game interview with Coach Fjeldstad[/file]
[link={e_IMAGE}newspost_images/fjeldstad_interview.jpg][img]{e_IMAGE}newspost_images/fjeldstad_interview_thumb.jpg[/img][/link]