Most interesting match for SEHA Gazprom fans on Sunday was the one played in Rouen between Belarus and Saudi Arabia in which Belarusians have managed to reach premier victory in France with 29:26. It was obviously not easy. Chevtsov and his boys were only up by 1 after first 30 with Saudi Arabia once again, after the match against Croatia, proving to be a serious opponent ready to punish all mistakes. It took both patience and strenght for Belarus to decide this one with Saudi Arabians keeping close all the way until final 5 minutes when 3:0 series by Baranau, Karalek and Pukhouski decided everything. Latter was also their best scorer in the match with 9 goals while on the other side Mojtaba Alsalem once again proved to be ready to damage any opponent from outside scoring 7. Shylovich added 4 for Belarus, Rutenka and Yurynok 1 each. SEHA Gazprom League's other two representatives in this one were Macedonian referees Nacevski and Nikolov who were in charge of the match. Belarus will not have much time to rest as they will step on the court again as soon as tomorrow playing SEHA derby on WCh against Croatia.

Iceland and Tunisia have opened the day in group B in Metz with a 22:22 draw. Tunisians were 2 goals up after first 30 but Iceland have managed to catch them sharing points in their third encounter in France. In quite of a surprising draw Gudjon Sigurdsson was once again leading them with 5 goals. Main reason for Tunisian breakthrough in this one was incredible Bannour with 12 goals and Missaoui who has managed to gather 16 saves.

Another blowout win (35:17) for Sweden, this time against Argentina. Swedes are showing good form in France with Zachrisson leading them in this one with 8 along with their amazing defence which has allowed just 6 goals in second half. Nilsson added 2. However, real proof of how good and dangerous they are will come on Monday when they will in a Scandinavian derby face Denmark. SEHA representatives in this one were Slovenian referees Lah and Sok.

Strong performance for Germany as they have managed to demolish Chile to open the day in Rouen. In the end it was 14:35 with line player Kohlbacher leading Germany with 8 goals. Andreas Wolff had 16 saves. Germany are rolling so far in France and the result is top spot in group B at the moment with the same amount of points as Croatia but way better goal difference due to this match against Chile. They are however expected to battle for the first place in the last round of the group phase when they will play Duvnjak & Co.

Qatar have against Bahrein (32:22) managed to reach their premier win in France. And what a performance that was. Reigning WCh silver medallists were already 10 goals up after first 30 with Madadi leading them scoring 8. Their all-star goalie Danijel Saric was also on a required level with 11 saves boosting his team's chances for first two points. Referees Pavicevic and Raznatovic from Montenegro were assigned for this match.

Title holders are 3/3. It was however a bit tougher match than expected for 'Les Experts' as they were unable to fully break Norwegian resistance and sail towards an easy win early into the encounter. In the end 31:28. Sagosen was leading Norway with 8 and on the other side Remili, Mahe and Nikola Karabatic netted 5 each for France. French coaching duo Dinart - G. Gille had only 15 players on disposal for this one with Luka Karabatic suffering a torn ligament injury in their last match which will keep him out of the court until the end of the tournament.

Second win for Brazil in France as they have in Nantes managed to outplay Japan 27:24. After first half it was +2 for Brazilians with Langaro's strong second-half performance being the key in this one. He was leading them with 8 goals in the end. Santos had 14 saves.

Matchday 5 (15.1.2017)

Group A: France - Norway 31:28 (16:12) (N. Karabatic 5/ Sagosen 8), Brazil - Japan 27:24 (14:12) (Langaro 8/Tokuda 7)

Group B: Iceland - Tunisia 22:22 (11:13) (Sigurdsson 5/Bannour 12)

Group C: Chile - Germany 14:35 (6:17) (Feuchtmann 2/Kohlbacher 8), Saudi Arabia - Belarus 26:29 (13:14) (Alsalem 7/Pukhouski 9)

Group D: Argentina - Sweden 17:35 (11:16) (S. Simonet 5/Zachrisson 8), Bahrain - Qatar 22:32 (9:19) (Abdulqader Ali 5/Madadi 8)

Friday is going to be an extremely active day in France for SEHA Gazprom participating countries as they will all step on WCh courts. In group B in Rouen Hungary will open the matchday with a clash against Chile and Croatia will later on in a SEHA derby face Belarus. Metz will also host a SEHA derby on Monday with Slovenia playing against Macedonia. By SEHA duels, most interesting clash of the day will be Scandinavian derby between Denmark and Sweden in Paris.

 

Tomorrow on World Championship in France:

 

Group A: Poland - Russia (20.45 CET)

Group B: Slovenia - Macedonia (17.45 CET), Spain - Angola (20.45 CET)

Group C: Hungary - Chile (17.45 CET), Croatia - Belarus (20.45 CET)

Group D: Egypt - Bahrain (17.45 CET), Denmark - Sweden (20.45 CET)

 

FULL WCH FRANCE 2017 OVERVIEW

 

Results Group A

Round 1; France - Brazil 31:16 (17:7) (Porte 6/Toledo 5), Russia - Japan 39:29 (18:15) (Atman, Dibirov, Shishkarev 6/Shida 7), Poland - Norway 20:22 (10:12) (Daszek 7/Hansen 6)

Round 2; Japan - France 19:31 (9:17) (Uegaki 5/Fabregas 7), Brazil - Poland 28:24 (16:11) (Toledo 8/Paczkowski 6), Norway - Russia 28:24 (15:11) (Bjornsen 7/Soroka 8)

Round 3; France - Norway 31:28 (16:12) (N. Karabatic 5/ Sagosen 8), Brazil - Japan 27:24 (14:12) (Langaro 8/Tokuda 7)

STANDINGS GROUP A; France 6 (+30), Norway 4 (+3), Brazil 4 (-8), Russia 2 (+6), Poland 0 (-6), Japan 0 (-25),

 

Results Group B

Round 1; Slovenia - Angola 42:25 (22:13) (Marguc, Mackovsek 9/Lopes 7), Macedonia - Tunisia 34:30 (13:14) (Lazarov 12/Boughanmi 9), Spain - Iceland 27:21 (10:12) (Canellas 4/Sigurdsson 5)

Round 2; Iceland - Slovenia 25:26 (8:11) (Elisson 7/Bezjak 6), Tunisia - Spain 21:26 (10:12) (Toumi 5/Tomas, Balaguer 5), Angola - Macedonia 22:31 (9:14) (Lopes 5/K.Lazarov 10)

Round 3; Iceland - Tunisia 22:22 (11:13) (Sigurdsson 5/Bannour 12)

STANDINGS GROUP B; Slovenia 4 (+18), Macedonia 4 (+13), Spain 4 (+11), Iceland 1 (-7), Tunisia 1 (-9), Angola 0 (-26)

 

Results Group C

Round 1; Belarus - Chile 28:32 (14:14) (Karalek 10/R. Salinas 8), Germany - Hungary 27:23 (16:11) (Gensheimer 13/Jamali, Lekai 3), Croatia - Saudi Arabia 28:23 (12:11) (Cindric 6/Alsalem 5)

Round 2; Hungary - Croatia 28:31 (11:11) (Balogh, Harsanyi 6/Duvnjak 5), Chile - Germany 14:35 (6:17) (Feuchtmann 2/Kohlbacher 8), Saudi Arabia - Belarus 26:29 (13:14) (Alsalem 7/Pukhouski 9)

STANDINGS GROUP C; Germany 4 (+25), Croatia 4 (+8), Belarus 2 (-1), Chile 2 (-17), Hungary 0 (-7), Saudi Arabia 0 (-8)

 

Results Group D

Round 1; Qatar - Egypt 20:22 (8:11) (Capote 5/El-Ahmar 8), Sweden - Bahrain 33:16 (17:5) (Tollbring 10/Habib Hasan 4), Denmark - Argentina 33:22 (17:11) (Hansen 6/F. Fernandez 6)

Round 2; Egypt - Denmark 28:35 (15:21) (Elderaa 6/Svan 6), Argentina - Sweden 17:35 (11:16) (S. Simonet 5/Zachrisson 8), Bahrain - Qatar 22:32 (9:19) (Abdulqader Ali 5/Madadi 8)

STANDINGS GROUP D; Sweden 4 (+35), Denmark 4 (+18), Egypt 2 (-5), Qatar 2 (+8), Bahrain 0 (-27), Argentina 0 (-29)