Handball

The highlight of the week in handball is the start of the World Women Handball Championship due to begin later this week in Serbia. Romania is in Group D, alongside Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, Australia and Tunisia. The Serbian city of Novi Sad will be hosting all Group D fixtures. The Romanian players, managed by Gheorghe Tadici, will play their first game on Saturday against Tunisia.

Florin Orban, 04.12.2013, 13:36

On Monday, Romania take on Australia, followed by a difficult game against Germany one day later. In another difficult game, Romania will meet Hungary on the 12th of December. In their last group game, they will face the Czech side on the 13th of December.

Montenegro, France, Holland, South Korea, the Dominican Republic and Congo play in Group A, Serbia, Denmark, Brazil, Japan, China and Algeria play in Group B, while Norway, Poland, Angola, Spain, Argentina and Paraguay are in Group C.

The top four squads in each group will qualify for the round of last 16, which will be held on the 15th and 16th of December in Belgrade and Novi Sad. The quarterfinals will take place on the 18th of December. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday, the 20th of December, while the final is hosted by Belgrade on the 22nd of December.

To prepare for the World Championship, Romania played a number of friendly games. In November, they played two games against Denmark, both of which they won, 23 to 22 and again 26 to 21. Romania then took part in a tournament in Paris where they beat Japan 23 to 18 and lost to France 22 to 27.