DHB women achieve a grand victory in office
The German women's handball team starts bitterly with two defeats in the Olympic tournament. But in the third game, they achieve something big: they overwhelm Slovenia, and in the end, there's a goal fest. A high victory was also important with an eye on the quarter-finals, which are now within reach again.
Keeping their nerves and celebrating a record, the German women's handball team secured the much-needed convincing victory in their first Olympic "final". The team, coached by Markus Gaugisch, defeated Slovenia 41:22 (16:9) on Tuesday morning, thanks to their first win in Paris, they now have good chances of reaching the knockout round.
Annika Lott and Xenia Smits were the top scorers with seven goals each for the German team, which improved significantly and celebrated its highest victory at the Olympics: previously, the highest success was the 27:12 against Angola in 1996 in Atlanta.
The clear victory was based on a strong defense and goalkeeper Katharina Filter. In front of 5,765 spectators in the sold-out Arena Paris Sud, the German attack used its chances much more effectively than in the defeats against South Korea (22:23) and Sweden (28:31).
In the remaining matches against World Championship third-placed Denmark on Thursday and European champions Norway on Saturday (both 7 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport), Germany could potentially afford two defeats to secure one of the four quarter-final tickets in Group A. The round of the last eight in Lille is the minimum goal of the federation.
Against the Slovenians, whom Germany had beaten 31:25 on the way to their first Olympic participation in 16 years in April, Germany found their way into the game after a brief start. Especially the defense adapted well to the eleventh-placed team at the World Championships and their outstanding player Ana Gros.
After the 4:5 (13.), the German team fought their way to a two-goal lead for the first time with counter-attacks at 7:5 (14.). Filter, who was sometimes close to a 50 percent save rate, held one after the other, so that Slovenia went eight minutes without scoring. Germany used this coldly.
Smits increased the lead to five goals for the first time at 11:6 (22.), the difference that the German team needed at least to win a possible three-way tie with the Slovenians and South Korea for fourth place at the end of the preliminary round. In the following, Gaugisch's team did not rest on their laurels, the lead continued to grow - speed was the key to the never-endangered success in the end.
The German women's handball team's impressive performance against Slovenia has placed them in a favorable position for the upcoming matches. Their convincing victory in the Olympic "final" on Tuesday brings them closer to reaching the knockout round, particularly the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris.
With a record-breaking win of 41:22 against Slovenia, the German team has set a new high for their Olympic success, surpassing their previous best of 27:12 against Angola in 1996 during the Atlanta Games.
