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Germany's co-captain Emily Bölk
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Thanks to an outstanding defensive performance, the German women's handball team also won their third World Cup match and advanced to the main round with the maximum number of points. In the match for the group victory, the DHB team surprisingly defeated Poland 33:17 (19:10) on Monday in Herning, Denmark. The best German thrower was co-captain Alina Grijseels with seven goals.
In the second phase of the tournament, national coach Markus Gaugisch's team will face Denmark, Romania and probably Serbia in a group of six. The first main round duel is scheduled for Germany on Thursday. The teams take their points from the preliminary round, and the top two teams in the group then qualify for the quarter-finals.
The Poles were supposed to be the first real World Cup endurance test for the Gaugisch team, the Germans had suspected in advance. After the opening games against two unorthodox teams from Asia, the style of play of the Eastern Europeans was a familiar one. No frills, body-hugging and with a lot of speed. "The retreat will be the key," announced circle runner Julia Behnke and warned against the fast wingers and large backcourt players.
Accordingly, the German defensive players were aggressive in the one-on-one duels. The defensive block stood. Grijseels and Co. closed the passing lanes well and put massive pressure on the Poles, who took a timeout after just eleven minutes and a four-goal deficit.
1800 spectators saw an extremely physical game. Ten minutes before the break, Germany were twice outnumbered after two fouls. But thanks to two goals from Xenia Smits and a save from goalkeeper Katharina Filter, the DHB team survived this phase unscathed. Suddenly, everything worked out and Germany extended its lead to ten goals (19-9).
Compared to the opening games, the Germans looked transformed. The emotions released additional reserves of strength. Highly concentrated DHB players made almost no technical errors. In the first ten minutes after the break, co-captain Emily Bölk's team conceded just one goal, but scored seven times themselves.
The Polish attack was completely eliminated and the game had long since been decided with a 17-goal lead. Spurred on by the improved performance of her teammates, goalkeeper Filter also played her best game so far at this World Cup in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. With a lot of self-confidence, the DHB team can now start the main round as co-favorites for the quarter-finals.
max/dpa