Tokyo (AFP)
The last four of the men's handball tournament will offer a big poster on Thursday between Denmark, defending champion and Spain, and an unbalanced shock between France, Olympic champion in 2008 and 2012, and Egypt, a novice.
Danish and Spanish handball players have shared the last four international tournaments: the 2019 and 2021 Worlds in the Scandinavians, the 2018 and 2020 European Championships for the Iberians.
In the quarter-finals on Tuesday, Mikkel Hansen and his teammates dominated Sander Sagosen's Norway 31 to 25.
Big favorite to sign a double in Japan, after gold in Rio, Denmark led the race almost from start to finish.
Hansen and Sagosen, the two stars of the Tokyo tournament, surrendered blow for blow (8 goals each), but the first was supported by a more solid collective, like the back Jacob Holm who scored 8 goals.
But the path to the Olympic title is an obstacle course for the Danes who will meet the Spaniards in the semifinals for a remake of that of the Egyptian World Cup in January.
She had turned in favor of Denmark thanks to a huge Mikkel Hansen (12 goals).
The other half will oppose France, which swept Bahrain 42-28, against Egypt, victorious over Germany 31-26.
The surprising Egypt team victorious over Germany, on August 3, 2021 in Tokyo, will play its semi-final against France Fabrice COFFRINI AFP
The French will aim for a fourth consecutive Olympic final, which no nation has managed to achieve either for women or for men, after the coronations in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London and the silver medal in 2016 in Rio .
For Egypt, however, this will be a first.
Thanks to their success against Germany, bronze medalist five years ago in Rio, the Pharaohs became the first African handball players to climb into the last Olympic square.
Egypt is only the second non-European nation to play in a men's Olympic semi-final, after South Korea, a finalist in 1988 in Seoul.
© 2021 AFP