Olympics women’s handball results: August 14th
2016 Rio Olympics women’s handball results from Sunday, August 14 and the last day of the preliminary round
After nine days of furious action, the 2016 Rio Olympics women’s handball preliminary round saw its end on Sunday. All 12 teams in the competition were in action for their fifth and final match of the group stage. Moreover, there was still plenty of room left for several teams to either improve their seeding or make it into a position to advance. Subsequently, there was intrigue everywhere on August 14.
The first matchup on the docket was a relative mismatch between host nation Brazil and Montenegro. Brazil looked to finish atop Group A while the latter hoped for their first victory. It was the Brazilians that ultimately prevailed, though, 29-23. The focus then shifted to Group B and Sweden vs France. Both teams were virtually locked into a top-four seed, but wanted to improve their positioning. France did just that as they secured the 27-25 victory on Sunday.
Group B play continued with a torrid scoring affair between Russia and Netherlands. Defense was at a premium in this matchup between the Dutch fighting for their lives and Russia trying to stay unbeaten. When the dust settled, Russia indeed remained undefeated going into the elimination rounds at the Olympics. Back in Group A for the next match, Norway and Romania went back and forth for the entire 60 minutes. Romania needed the win to advance, but it was the defending gold medalists in Norway that edged them out for the one-goal win.
Finishing up Group A was Spain vs Angola in another matchup with teams jockeying for position. Though Spain ultimately picked up the victory, Angola still survived to advance out of the group stage. Argentina and South Korea went to war in the final matchup of the preliminary round in a match with no consequence as both teams were effectively already eliminated. South Korea did pick up the closing win, though, leaving Argentina winless in Rio.
In order out of Group A, Brazil, Norway, Spain, and Angola advance. Russia, France, Sweden, and Netherlands secured the four spots out of Group B. These eight teams will now match up in the quarterfinals, which begin on Tuesday, August 16.