Hungarian Women’s Handball Team Secures Olympic Qualification with Victory Against Japan

Against the Swedes on Friday with a great three-goal success (28–25) the Hungarian women’s handball team was in a great position, as a four-goal defeat against the Japanese meant participation in the Olympics. Even before the 2008 Olympics, they had to play against the Japanese for participation, then they achieved a confident victory as well, and also now.

Japan has never managed to beat Hungary, but it didn’t hurt to be careful with them, because in the previous World Cup they beat the Danes by one goal, which could only be achieved with a great game, and they also caught Montenegro in the Olympics postponed to 2021. Now they were very far from making things difficult for the Hungarians.

The captain, Vlagyimir Golovin, put Blanka Böde-Bíró in the goal, Petra Vámos managed, Csenge Kuczora and Katrin Klujber were the two crossers, Petra Füzi-Tóvizi came to the bench, Nadine Szöllősi-Schatzl and Viktória Győri-Lukács took their place in the on two sides.

We didn’t have to wait a minute for the first goal, Klujber fired from the top left corner. In defense, Kuczora was replaced by Nikoletta Papp. In the fifth minute, we led 3-2, in addition to Kuczora, Lukács scored from the wing.

By the tenth minute, the score had changed to 4-3, in this phase the teams played with many mistakes. In the 14th minute, Schatzl’s rush goal led us to 7-4, the Japanese captain, Kisimoto, immediately intervened and asked for time. With the goalie down, they switched to a 7-6 game, but after Bíró’s feats, Klujber followed first with a break-in, then with a full-court hit, and it was already 9-4, and the confused Japanese asked for time again.

After Klujber’s possession and half-court goal, it was 11-5, the first time there was a six-goal difference. Since the Japanese continued to play without a goalie, but similarly inaccurately, in the 22nd minute it was already 13-6 on the scoreboard. By the 25th minute, our team had already scored twice as many goals (16-8), because Kuczora was irresistible both from the ground and from the jump. At the end of the half, the teams went to rest with 18-11, Gréta Márton and Simon Petra were also among the scorers.

In the 37th minute, Klujber’s eighth goal restored the biggest difference between the two teams, again there were eight between them. (21–13) It didn’t take long for the audience to count to ten, Lukács fired the top right shot from the right wing. (23–13) With the goals of Kinga Klivinyi and Márton Márton, the Hungarian lead increased to eleven. In the 47th minute, a rush was completed by Klujber (he became the man of the match), which made the score 28-16.

The game of the Hungarians was characterized by several small inattentions in the beginning, Japan tried to get within ten, but they could only be happy about this little thing in the end. The final result of 37-28 was set by Klivinyi at the end of a nice action. After 2021, the Hungarian players successfully qualified for the Olympics again. The team reached the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Olympics, and this can be a realistic goal now.

“Good evening Hungary, good evening Olympics!” – shouted the announcer András Petur on the spot, and the members of the team started a great dance of joy. The team at last year’s World Cup against the Croatians, coming from minus six, he reached this point with Bíró’s feat of seven.

“Three wins, first place, but the most important thing is that Paris is waiting for us! I am very proud of the girls!” – these were the Hungarian captain’s first words at the press conference. “I am very happy and very proud to be the coach of this team,” Golovin emphasized.

Hungary-Japan 37-28 (18-11)
Hungary: Böde-Bíró – Győri-Lukács 6, Klujber 11, Vámos, Füzi-Tóvizi 1, Kuczora 3, Szöllősi-Schatzl 1, substitutions: Papp 1, Simon 4, Márton 3, Bordás, Kácsor, Debreczeni-Klivinyi 4, Pásztor 2, Albek 1, Janurik.

The draw will take place on Tuesday afternoon, the hat distribution is as follows:

• First: Hungary, Norway
• Second: Netherlands, Germany
• Third: Spain, Slovenia
• Fourth: Sweden, France
• Fifth: Denmark, Brazil
• Sixth: Angola, South Korea