The German handball players took a deep breath and then stormed towards Xenia Smits, completely detached. With a goal at the last second, the backcourt player led the DHB selection to their hard-earned World Cup opening victory against Japan. In a tough game, national coach Markus Gaugisch’s team prevailed 31:30 (18:17) against the outsiders and thus created an optimal starting position for the desired entry into the main round.
The best German thrower on Thursday was co-captain Alina Grijseels with seven hits. Despite the surprisingly close game, Gaugisch drew a positive conclusion. “It’s not that we played a bad game. We were good. We did a lot of good things,” the 49-year-old praised his players and paid respect to the opponents: “Japan is difficult to defend. Very varied. You can see that the 16 weeks of the year run through their systems in a very disciplined manner.”
The German team’s other opponents in the preliminary round are Iran on Saturday and Poland on Monday. The best three teams qualify for the second phase of the tournament, the main round. The declared goal of national coach Markus Gaugisch’s squad is to place in the top seven, which would ensure a place in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
The German national team received good news before kick-off. Backcourt player Xenia Smits, who missed the last World Cup test against Sweden due to a thigh injury, was able to play from the start.
Temporeiche Party
However, the DHB selection was initially unable to use their physical superiority to their advantage. Emily Bölk and her teammates had problems with the fast play of the agile Japanese women, who were on average ten centimeters shorter. After a temporary three-goal deficit, the Germans took the lead for the first time after a good ten minutes.
In a fast-paced game with many attacks and counter-attacks, the defense was the weak point in the German game. The agreements between the defensive players were not correct, and so the Asians kept dancing their way through the back rows.
Thanks to some lack of concentration on the part of the Japanese, the DHB team, which was also shaky on offense, still went into the break with a one-goal lead.
Leadership skillfully managed
Immediately after the restart, the DHB team pulled ahead by three goals for the first time. Germany created a goal threat, especially through the wing players Amelie Berger and Antje Döll. In addition, the defense was now more secure and forced the outsiders to lose the ball.
Co-captain Grijseels was particularly accurate. The 27-year-old from top club HB Metz converted confidently both from the seven-meter point and from play. After around 42 minutes, Gaugisch’s team took the lead for the first time with four goals (25:21).
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The European Championship seventh-placed team initially managed their lead cleverly. Japan found hardly any gaps in the German defense and had to take more and more risks. When everything looked like a confident victory, mistakes crept into the DHB team’s offensive game again – Gaugisch reacted with a time out. In the last minute, events came to a head: Japan equalized, but Smits scored the celebrated final point.
