China’s U-18 women’s under-18 youth handball team was completely defeated by Switzerland and headed for the 7th to 8th place final.
China lost to Switzerland 25-38 in the ranking match of the 11th World Women’s Youth Handball Championship at Sala Sporturilor in Mioveni, Romania, on the 7th (local time).
As a result, China won consecutive games at the beginning of the tournament, creating a sensation of advancing to the quarterfinals, but lost to Egypt in the quarterfinals and then knelt down to Switzerland. China will now play its final match of the tournament in the 7th to 8th places.
사진 확대 Photo by Chinese player at the 11th World Women’s Youth Handball Championship, photo source = International Handball Federation
On the other hand, Switzerland advanced to the 5th to 6th place by overpowering China. Switzerland secured at least 6th place in this competition, setting a new record for the World Women’s Youth Championships. The previous best was 14th in the 2024 tournament.
The game was virtually decided in the first half. Switzerland showed a strong attack from the beginning of the game, with several players evenly scoring. Lauryn Mierzwa, Amy Koch and Elina Egli led the attack side by side, shaking the Chinese defense.
China, on the other hand, could hardly find a way out of the attack. Switzerland’s defense blocked the scoring productivity, and the score gap widened from the first half as the attack did not work out properly.
In China, Shuoyan Zhang struggled. Zhang Xueyan scored nine goals and five assists on the day, almost leading the Chinese attack alone.
In particular, Zhang Xueyan maintained the lead in the competition for the top scorer in this tournament. He added nine goals on the day, scoring a total of 60 goals in the tournament, tying for second place along with Switzerland’s Lauryn Miertsva. The two players are three goals behind Japan’s Hina Miura (63 goals), continuing their race to become the top scorer.
Switzerland took a nine-goal lead from the first half and maintained its concentration in the second half. China tried to chase, but Switzerland rather widened the gap and expanded the lead to 13 goals in the second half. In the end, Switzerland won 38-25 to confirm its advance to the 5th to 6th place final.
Switzerland secured the best record ever in this tournament and now looks to fifth place. On the other hand, China failed to continue its gust at the beginning of the tournament and was pushed to the 7th to 8th place final, but advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in history, setting a new milestone for its women’s youth handball.
[Kim Yongpil, MK Sports Reporter]