Norway defeat Hungary to claim U20 world title

European Handball Federation

04 July 2022, 09:00

The women’s under-20 team of Norway did on Sunday what their senior team had done half a year ago: becoming world champions! Norway defeated titleholders Hungary 31:29 in the final of the 2022 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship in Slovenia, a few hours after Netherlands had claimed the bronze medal.

Norway earned their second under-20 title, 12 years after lifting the trophy for the first time in South Korea. They stopped the impeccable run of Hungary, who had easily won all their matches coming into the final of this World Championship in Celje.

A previous under-20 generation of Hungary had won the title the last time the tournament was held, in 2018, after beating Norway in the final.

Netherlands had reached the semi-finals for the first time, and the Dutch crowned their achievement with the bronze medal. They lost their semi-final against eventual champions Norway but outscored Sweden 31:20 in the third place match, while having their left back and top scorer Kim Molenaar named MVP of the championship.

FINAL

Norway vs Hungary 31:29 (17:15)

despite missing key player Martine Andersen, who had injured her knee in the semi-final against Netherlands, Norway were soon in control of the game following an early 6:2 lead
Norway were still ahead at half-time and seemed heading for the title when they led 25:22, but a 6:1 run from Hungary suddenly turned the tide
however, led by backs Frida Andersen and Maja Sæteren, Norway staged a comeback from 28:26 down in the last five minutes to win the title
Andersen was Norway’s best scorer with seven goals; Blanka Kajdon netted eight times for Hungary
Norway remained unbeaten this championship, only dropping a point in a preliminary round draw against France, and became only the fifth nation to win this world title multiple times
Hungary had come into the final with a stunning goal difference of +121 after their previous seven matches, but ultimately just failed to replicate the nation’s 2018 achievement

The final of the 2022 IHF Women's Junior World Championship came down to the wire, with 🇳🇴 @NORhandball pulling away in the last minutes 😵 Relive the thrilling ending to #Slovenia2022 ⬆️ pic.twitter.com/08NWwbDkgk
— International Handball Federation (@ihf_info) July 3, 2022

THIRD PLACE MATCH / SEMI-FINALS

in the bronze medal match, Netherlands defeated Sweden for a second time this tournament: after a narrow 23:22 win in the main round, they downed the Scandinavian side 31:20 on Sunday
Netherlands left back Kim Molenaar was her team’s best scorer once again, with eight goals this time; Molenaar became top scorer (62 goals) and MVP of the championship
Clara Petersson had five goals for Sweden, whose fourth place was their best finish at the tournament since they had won the title in 2012
in Friday’s first semi-final, Netherlands managed to keep Norway in check for just one half (14:14) but were overran by the eventual champions in the second half: 32:23
Johanna Nypan and Martine Andersen each scored six times for Norway; Kim Molenaar led with seven for Netherlands
in the second semi-final, an 11-goal outing by Johanna Farkas led Hungary to a clear 33:25 win over Sweden after a rather close first half (15:14)