Handball World Cup
France is the first team to advance to the main round
France is the first team to reach the main round of the Handball World Championships in Poland and Sweden. Against the outsider Saudi Arabia, the record world champion won’t burn anything at 41:23 (24:14) and will therefore travel to Kraków for the main round.
Yanis Lenne scores eight times for the French.
The top scorer for France in the game against Saudi Arabia was Yanis Lenne with eight goals. Superstar Nikola Karabatic came up with a goal after his goalless performance against Poland.
Brazil, the best team in South America, had little trouble in their Group C clash with Uruguay after losing their opening game to European champions Sweden. The 35:24 (19:10) win puts the Brazilians in a good starting position before the final group game against Cape Verde.
Montenegro and Portugal were also able to equalize their defeats from the first game. Against Iran (34:31), Montenegro returned to Group A, which is open behind favorites Spain. After the defeat against Poland, Portugal solved the compulsory task in group D against South Korea with 32:24 (15:12).
On Wednesday, Olympic champion France had already beaten co-hosts Poland in the opening game (26:24) and thus secured one of the first three places for participation in the main round in group B. At the end of the preliminary round, the French will meet Slovenia on Monday (6 p.m.). (AFP)