Split, CROATIA, December 3 (www.wwhc2003.hr) - Spain made a 6-2 run to start the game, but Serbia and Montenegro scored four unanswered goals to even the score at 6-6. Spanish women managed to make another run (11-7), but stubborn S&M team scored four goals in a row to square everything at 11-11. With Ana Vojcic making some good saves, eastern Europeans stayed in reach with Spain going into locker room.
Spain started brightly in the second half and took an 18-14 lead in the 40th minute of the game. This time, Spain didn't allow Serbia and Montenegro to make a comeback, and calmly finished the game in their favor.
Cristina Gomez Arquer and Noelia Oncina scored six goals each for the winners, while captain Ljiljana Knezevic led S&M with nine goals.
Jose Aldeguer Valenzuela (Spanish coach): "Serbia and Montenegro were obviously tired and we took advantage of that. Croatia plays a similar style to that of S&M, and clashes among these four teams bring very interesting games."
Zoran Ivic (S&M coach): "We had problems in our attack, that was the main reason of this defeat. As soon as we finished with our attack, there were holes in our defence. We lost the battle but not the war because this tournament goes on. I tought that Spain would be the 4th team in the group, but this game changed that plan."
16th Women's World Handball Championship - Day 2
Group A: Spain - Serb&Mont 33-27, Australia - Croatia 12-38, Brazil - France 15-33
Group B: Korea - Czech Republic 31-18, Angola - Russia 22-26, Uruguay - Austria 20-47
Group C: Ukraine - Romania 28-28, Tunisia - Norway 25-27, Argentina - Japan 16-24
Group D: Ivory Coast - Slovenia 28-32, Germany - Hungary 30-27, China - Denmark 20-29
Day 1 (December 3, 2003): Serbia&Montenegro - Australia 41-18
