TeamNL into the Main Round
With a 37-15 victory over Egypt, TeamNL Women’s Handball has qualified for the Main Round of the 27th IHF Women’s Handball World Championship . In a for the second time sold-out Rotterdam Ahoy , the home team managed another strong victory.
Main Round secured, battle for group victory
With the final match of the first round still to come, qualification is secured. The Netherlands will play Austria next Tuesday for the group win. The Austrian women also won both matches. TeamNL National Coach Henrik Signell: “The focus is now on Austria and not yet on the Main Round. The points against Austria could potentially be important for a better position in the Main Round.”
Thanks to qualifying for the Main Round, the schedule for the Netherlands’ next three matches is already known: the Dutch women will play on December 4, December 6, and December 8, again in Rotterdam Ahoy. They will then face the qualified teams from ‘s-Hertogenbosch, including Olympic champion France.
Unmatched atmosphere in a SOLD-OUT Rotterdam Ahoy
With 9,000 Orange fans in the stands for the first matches, Team NL was buoyed by a solid home advantage. “I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like this before. I’ve never made a video after a match myself before, but I had to capture this. The way the Dutch fans celebrated doesn’t exist anywhere else. Literally everyone was cheering and waving. I love them all,” said Henrik Signell.
Tournament ambassador Tess Lieder: “You can see that the players were initially impressed, but now they’re just enjoying it. We hope the fans will come in big numbers to the next matches.”
For the Netherlands, qualifying means they will play all the remaining matches of the tournament in Rotterdam Ahoy. Top-level matches can also be seen at De Maaspoort in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.