Twelve women’s teams fight for the last six tickets to London
Eight teams from Europe, two from Pan-America, one from Asia
and one from Africa start their
“mission Olympics” next weekend (25 to 27 May). The last six of in total 24
places for the 2012 London Olympic Games Handball Tournaments will be decided in
France, Spain and Denmark from Friday to Sunday. The two best ranked teams from
each of those Olympic Qualification Tournaments (OQT) in Lyon, Guadalajara and
Aalborg will book their tickets to the 2012 Olympic Games. The draw for the
preliminary rounds will take place in London at the Crystal Palace National
Sports Centre on Wednesday, 30 May.
Six participants
(Great Britain, Norway, Brazil, Angola, Korea and Sweden) are already known
after the 2011 World Championship in Brazil and the continental qualification
tournaments.
Tournament 1
(in Lyon, France):
France will face Romania, Montenegro and Japan at Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon in the toughest of all groups. Montenegro is nearly identical to the club team of Buducnost Podgorica, which had won the EHF Champions League on 13 May. The Romanians are traditionally strong and qualified for this tournament as bronze medallist of the European Championship 2010. But both main French contenders had not been satisfied with the way they played at the World Championship in Brazil, when they both missed the quarter-finals. In contrast, Japan was one of the big positive surprises, as they almost eliminated Denmark in the eighth-finals. Japan lost the continental Olympic qualification highly close against Korea, too. However, France – silver medallist of the 2011 World Championship in Brazil – is considered as favourite, although they have to replace their top star Allison Pineau after a rupture of the cruciate ligament occurred in the semi-final in Sao Paulo. On the other hand Romania will most likely miss Cristina Neagu – the successor of Pineau as World Handball Player of the Year – due to a shoulder injury.
France will face Romania, Montenegro and Japan at Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon in the toughest of all groups. Montenegro is nearly identical to the club team of Buducnost Podgorica, which had won the EHF Champions League on 13 May. The Romanians are traditionally strong and qualified for this tournament as bronze medallist of the European Championship 2010. But both main French contenders had not been satisfied with the way they played at the World Championship in Brazil, when they both missed the quarter-finals. In contrast, Japan was one of the big positive surprises, as they almost eliminated Denmark in the eighth-finals. Japan lost the continental Olympic qualification highly close against Korea, too. However, France – silver medallist of the 2011 World Championship in Brazil – is considered as favourite, although they have to replace their top star Allison Pineau after a rupture of the cruciate ligament occurred in the semi-final in Sao Paulo. On the other hand Romania will most likely miss Cristina Neagu – the successor of Pineau as World Handball Player of the Year – due to a shoulder injury.
Match
schedule:
25 May 2012:
25 May 2012:
16:45: Montenegro
vs. Japan
19:00: France vs.
Romania
26 May 2012
14:45: Romania vs.
Montenegro
17:00: Japan vs.
France
27 May
2012:
14:15: Romania vs.
Japan
16:30: France vs.
Montenegro
Tournament 2 (in Guadalajara, Spain):
Like in Lyon three
European teams go for the five Olympic rings: The host, who had received its
first ever medal at a Women’s World Championship by winning bronze in Brazil,
will face the Croatians and the Dutch team in this tournament, in which
Argentina is the great underdog. Spain played an excellent tournament in Brazil,
eliminated the host in a thrilling quarter-final, followed by a dominant bronze
medal match against Denmark. Counting on top goalkeeper Silvia Navarro or the
brilliant playmaker Martha Mangue, the Iberians seem to be the favourite on home
ground. But for some years the Croatian women have improved, ranked seventh in
Brazil and beat Denmark twice in the qualification for EHF EURO 2012. The
Netherlands were the last team to book their ticket for the Olympic
qualification – and the Dutch had to thank Angola for the chance to qualify for
London. The young team will be the host of the EHF EURO in December – and
reaching London would be the biggest possible promotion. Argentina had lost the
final of the Pan-American qualification clearly and missed the eighth-finals of
the World Championship even clearer.
Match schedule:25 May
2012:
10:45: Croatia vs.
Netherlands
13:00: Spain vs.
Argentina
26 May
2012:
10:45: Argentina vs.
Croatia
13:00: Netherlands
vs. Spain
27 May
2012:
10:15: Argentina
vs. Netherlands
12:30: Spain vs.
Croatia
Tournament 3
(in Aalborg, Denmark):
In contrast to
Tournament 1 and 2 the roles in Aalborg seem to be clear: Denmark (fourth ranked
team in Brazil) and Russia (four-time World Champion and disappointingly ranked
sixth in Sao Paolo) are supposed to be the clear favourites against Tunisia and
the Dominican Republic. The North Africans played some good matches in Brazil,
but missed the eighth-finals due to the defeat against Japan, and the Caribbean
team did not even qualify for the World Championship.
Match schedule:
25 May 2012:
25 May 2012:
18:15: Russia vs.
Dominican Republic
20:15: Denmark vs.
Tunisia
26 May
2012:
18:45: Tunisia vs.
Russia
20:45: Dominican
Republic vs. Denmark
27 May
2012:
18:15: Tunisia vs.
Dominican Republic
20:15: Denmark vs.
Russia
All data concerning
playing time have to be accepted under reserve and may be changed at any
time. All times are local times.
In accordance with the IHF Regulations the seeding list for the
preliminary round draw on 30 May in London is the
following:
Pot 1: Norway,
first ranked team of OQT in Lyon
Pot 2: first ranked
team of OQT in Guadalajara, first ranked team of OQT in
Aalborg
Pot 3: second
ranked team of OQT in Guadalajara, second ranked team of OQT in
Aalborg
Pot 4: Great
Britain, second ranked team of OQT in Lyon
Pot 5: Sweden,
Brazil
Pot 6: Angola, Korea
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