Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament

The women's handball tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics is being held from August 9 to August 23, at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium and National Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Twelve nations are represented in the women's tournament.

2008 Women's Olympic handball tournament

Tournament details
Host country	China
Venue(s)	2 (in 1 host city)
Dates	9–23 August 2008
Teams	12 (from 4 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Norway (1st title)
Runner-up	Russia
Third place	South Korea
Fourth place	Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches played	42
Top scorer(s)	Ramona Maier (56 goals)
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The four best teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinal round, 5th and 6th teams in each group are classified 9th-12th by the results of their group matches. The losers of quarterfinal matches will compete in the 5th-8th classification matches by the same elimination system as the winners of the quarterfinals. Three time consecutive defending Champion Denmark were not part of the 2008 Olympics Handball Tournament, as they did not qualify from the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship.

Qualification

Competition	Date	Venue	Vacancies	Qualified
Host Nation	-	-	1	China
IHF World Championships	December 2–16, 2007	France	1	Russia
European Championships	December 7–17, 2006	Sweden	1	Norway
Asian Qualifying Tournament	August 25–29, 2007	Almaty	1	Kazakhstan
Africa Nations Cup	January 8–17, 2008	Luanda	1	Angola
Pan American Games	July 14–29, 2007	Rio de Janeiro	1	Brazil
Olympic Qualifying Tournament 1	March 28–30, 2008	Leipzig	2	Germany  Sweden
Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2	March 28–30, 2008	Bucharest	2	Romania  Hungary
Olympic Qualifying Tournament 3	March 28–30, 2008	Nîmes	2	France  South Korea
TOTAL			12

Olympic Qualifying Tournaments:

• Tournament I:
  • Worlds 3rd:  Germany
  • Worlds 9th:  Croatia
  • Europe:  Sweden
  • Pan-America:  Cuba
• Tournament II:
  • Worlds 4th:  Romania
  • Worlds 8th:  Hungary
  • Asia:  Japan
  • Top continent at the Worlds (Europe):  Poland
• Tournament III:
  • Worlds 5th:  France
  • Worlds 6th:  South Korea
  • Africa:  Ivory Coast
  • 2nd continent at the Worlds (Asia):  Congo^[1]

Preliminary round

Seeding

The draw for the groups was held 16 June 2008.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Russia	Germany	France	South Korea	Angola	Kazakhstan
Norway	Romania	Hungary	China	Sweden	Brazil

Rosters

Main article: Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's team rosters

Group stage

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Norway	5	5	0	0	154	106	+48	10	Qualified for the quarterfinals
Romania	5	4	0	1	150	112	+38	8
China	5	2	0	3	122	135	−13	4
France	5	2	0	3	121	128	−7	4
Kazakhstan	5	1	1	3	109	137	−28	3
Angola	5	0	1	4	109	147	−38	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

9 August 2008 09:00	France	32 – 21	Angola	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Chernega, Poladenko (RUS)
	Herbrecht 8	(13–14)	Bengue, Almeida 5
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3×

---

9 August 2008 14:00	Romania	31 – 19	Kazakhstan	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Aires Menezes, Aparecido Pinto (BRA)
	Ardean-Elisei 6	(13–10)	Ajiderskaya 10
	4× 5× 1×	Report	3× 7×

---

9 August 2008 19:00	Norway	30 – 23	China	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Elmoamli, Shaban Ali (EGY)
	Hammerseng 7	(13–12)	Li Weiwei 8
	3× 5×	Report	3× 7×

---

11 August 2008 09:00	Kazakhstan	18 – 21	France	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Ajiderskaya 7	(8–10)	Lacrabère 6
	3× 4× 1×	Report	3× 3×

---

11 August 2008 14:00	Angola	17 – 31	Norway	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Liu S, Liu F (CHN)
	Almeida 5	(6–14)	Riegelhuth 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 2×

---

11 August 2008 19:00	China	20 – 34	Romania	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Liudownyk, Vakula (UKR)
	Wei Qiuxiang 6	(11–17)	Amariei 9
	3× 3×	Report	3× 5×

---

13 August 2008 10:45	Romania	34 – 26	France	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Maier 11	(17–13)	Tervel 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 4×

---

13 August 2008 15:45	China	32 – 24	Angola	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Canbro, Claesson (SWE)
	Liu Xiaomei 7	(14–12)	Almeida 8
	3× 5× 1×	Report	4× 2×

---

13 August 2008 19:00	Norway	35 – 19	Kazakhstan	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Aires Menezes, Aparecido Pinto (BRA)
	Lybekk, Nyberg 5	(14–10)	Vassilyeva 6
	3× 3×	Report	3× 5×

---

15 August 2008 09:00	Kazakhstan	29 – 26	China	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Lemme, Ullrich (GER)
	Pikalova 8	(14–10)	Li Weiwei 11
	3× 5×	Report	3× 3×

---

15 August 2008 15:45	Romania	28 – 23	Angola	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Aires Menezes, Aparecido Pinto (BRA)
	Maier 7	(16–7)	Almeida 8
	2× 3×	Report	3× 2×

---

15 August 2008 19:00	France	24 – 34	Norway	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Krstic, Ljubic (SLO)
	Baudouin 6	(12–15)	Nyberg, Riegelhuth 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 3×

---

17 August 2008 10:45	Angola	24 – 24	Kazakhstan	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Bengue 6	(16–14)	three players 5
	3× 5×	Report	3× 5×

---

17 August 2008 14:00	Norway	24 – 23	Romania	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Chernega, Poladenko (RUS)
	Johansen, Lybekk 4	(12–11)	Amariei, Stanca-Gâlcă 5
	2× 4×	Report	4× 6× 1×

---

17 August 2008 15:45	France	18 – 21	China	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Liudowyk, Vakula (UKR)
	Ayglon 5	(10–9)	Wu Wenjuan 5
	3× 2×	Report	3× 6×

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
Russia	5	4	1	0	148	125	+23	9	Qualified for the quarterfinals
South Korea	5	3	1	1	155	127	+28	7
Hungary	5	2	1	2	129	142	−13	5
Sweden	5	2	0	3	123	137	−14	4
Brazil	5	1	1	3	124	137	−13	3
Germany	5	1	0	4	123	134	−11	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

9 August 2008 10:45	Hungary	30 – 24	Sweden	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Licis, Stolarovs (LAT)
	Vérten, Görbicz 7	(15–14)	Islas Helgesson 6
	2× 7×	Report	2× 4×

---

9 August 2008 15:45	Russia	29 – 29	South Korea	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Marennikova 6	(16–13)	Kim On-a 7
	3× 5×	Report	2× 2×

---

9 August 2008 20:45	Germany	24 – 22	Brazil	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Krause 6	(11–12)	Santos 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 2×

---

11 August 2008 10:45	Brazil	28 – 28	Hungary	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Baum, Goralczyk (POL)
	Amorim 10	(12–17)	Görbicz 8
	3× 6×	Report	3× 6× 1×

---

11 August 2008 15:45	South Korea	30 – 20	Germany	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Krstic, Ljubic (SLO)
	Hong Jeong-ho 6	(12–9)	Jurack, Loerper 4
	3× 6×	Report	3× 3×

---

11 August 2008 20:45	Sweden	24 – 28	Russia	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Wiel Fredén 6	(12–14)	Turei 6
	4× 4×	Report	3× 4×

---

13 August 2008 09:00	Russia	28 – 19	Brazil	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Licis, Stolarovs (LAT)
	Poltoratskaya 6	(12–10)	Nascimento 5
	2× 4×	Report	3× 2×

---

13 August 2008 14:00	South Korea	31 – 23	Sweden	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Baum, Goralczyk (POL)
	An, Park 7	(18–13)	Ahlm, Boson 6
	3× 1× 1×	Report	4× 6×

---

13 August 2008 20:45	Germany	24 – 25	Hungary	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Krause 9	(14–12)	Görbicz 9
	3× 4×	Report	4× 7×

---

15 August 2008 10:45	Brazil	33 – 32	South Korea	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Licis, Stolarovs (LAT)
	Nascimento 9	(17–12)	Hong Jeong-ho 10
	4× 6×	Report	3× 5× 1×

---

15 August 2008 14:00	Germany	26 – 27	Sweden	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Althaus, Wörz 5	(13–13)	Ahlm 7
	2× 4× 1×	Report	4× 4×

---

15 August 2008 20:45	Hungary	24 – 33	Russia	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Din, Dinu (ROU)
	Görbicz 6	(15–16)	Postnova 8
	3× 3×	Report	3× 2×

---

17 August 2008 09:00	Sweden	25 – 22	Brazil	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Ahlm 7	(14–11)	Rosas 5
	3× 3×	Report	2× 4×

---

17 August 2008 19:00	Russia	30 – 29	Germany	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Gjeding, Hansen (DEN)
	Postnova 8	(16–14)	Wörz 8
	2× 4×	Report	3× 3×

---

17 August 2008 20:45	Hungary	22 – 33	South Korea	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Görbicz 7	(11–19)	Oh Seong-ok 6
	4× 5×	Report	3× 3×

Medal Round

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Gold medal game

A2

Romania

30

B3

Hungary

34

B3

Hungary

20

B1

Russia

22

B1

Russia(2OT)

32

A4

France

31

Russia

27

Norway

34

B2

South Korea

31

A3

China

23

B2

South Korea

28

Bronze medal game

A1

Norway

29

A1

Norway

31

South Korea

33

B4

Sweden

24

4

Hungary

28

Quarterfinals

19 August 2008 12:00	Norway	31 – 24	Sweden	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Baum, Goralczyk (POL)
	Larsen, Lybekk 6	(16–10)	Torstenson 6
	3× 4×	Report	4× 2×

---

19 August 2008 14:15	Romania	30 – 34	Hungary	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Liudowyk, Vakula (UKR)
	Maier 11	(14–16)	Kovacsicz 7
	3× 7× 1×	Report	3× 2×

---

19 August 2008 18:00	South Korea	31 – 23	China	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Aires, Aparecido (BRA)
	Park Chung-hee 8	(16–12)	Huang Dongjie 5
	3× 4×	Report	4× 1×

---

19 August 2008 20:15	Russia	32 – 31 (ET)	France	Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium Referees: Liu S, Liu F (CHN)
	Bliznova 6	(12–16)	Signaté 7
	4× 2×	Report	4× 4×
	FT: 24–24 ET: 4–4, 4–3

Classification

21 August 2008 12:00	Sweden	19 – 20	China	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Karbaschi, Kolahdouzan (IRI)
	Torstenson 6	(7–8)	Wang Shasha 5
	4× 5×	Report	3× 3×

---

21 August 2008 14:15	Romania	34 – 36 (ET)	France	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Līcis, Stoļarovs (LAT)
	Maier 9	(13–12)	Baudouin 7
	4× 8×	Report	4× 8×
	FT: 27–27 ET: 4–4, 3–5

Semifinals

21 August 2008 18:00	Norway	29 – 28	South Korea	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Breto, Huelin (ESP)
	Hammerseng, Johansen 6	(14–15)	Moon Pil-hee 9
	2× 3×	Report	3× 2×

---

21 August 2008 20:15	Hungary	20 – 22	Russia	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Baum, Goralczyk (POL)
	Tóth 5	(9–14)	Bliznova 7
	4× 6×	Report	3× 7× 1×

7th–8th place

23 August 2008 08:00	Sweden	30 – 34	Romania	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Elmoamli, Shaban Ali (EGY)
	Gulldén 9	(15–17)	Meirosu, Stanca-Gâlcă 6
	4× 4×	Report	3× 2×

5th–6th place

23 August 2008 10:15	China	23 – 31	France	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Krstic, Ljubic (SLO)
	Liu Yun 7	(10–15)	Herbrecht, Pecqueux-Rolland 7
	3× 1×	Report	3× 1×

Bronze medal match

23 August 2008 13:30	South Korea	33 – 28	Hungary	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Chernega, Poladenko (RUS)
	Moon Pil-hee 10	(13–15)	Ferling 7
	3× 3×	Report	3× 7×

Gold medal match

23 August 2008 15:45	Norway	34 – 27	Russia	Beijing National Indoor Stadium Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Riegelhuth 9	(18–13)	Bliznova 6
	3× 3×	Report	2× 2×

Rankings and statistics

Classification
	Norway
	Russia
	South Korea
4	Hungary
5	France
6	China
7	Romania
8	Sweden
9	Brazil
10	Kazakhstan
11	Germany
12	Angola

All Star Team

• Goalkeeper: Katrine Lunde Haraldsen
• Left wing: Orsolya Vérten
• Left back: Liudmila Postnova
• Centre back: Oh Seong-Ok
• Right back: Irina Bliznova
• Right wing: Ramona Maier
• Line player/pivot: Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk

Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info

Top Goalkeepers

Rank	Name	Team	%	Saves	Shots
1	Katrine Lunde Haraldsen	Norway	42%	120	283
2	Amandine Leynaud	France	40%	38	96
	Valérie Nicolas	France		105	264
4	Luminiţa Dinu-Huţupan	Romania	39%	97	248
5	Lee Min-Hee	South Korea	38%	36	95
6	Inna Suslina	Russia	37%	59	158
7	Oh Yong-Ran	South Korea	36%	83	231
	Clara Woltering	Germany		44	121
9	Sabine Englert	Germany	34%	30	87
10	Katalin Pálinger	Hungary	33%	108	323

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Team	Goals	Shots	%
1	Ramona Maier	Romania	56	78	72%
2	Anita Görbicz	Hungary	49	105	47%
3	Hong Jeong-ho	South Korea	44	66	67%
4	Moon Pil-Hee	South Korea	42	83	51%
5	Johanna Ahlm	Sweden	40	95	42%
6	Park Chung-Hee	South Korea	37	62	60%
	Liudmila Postnova	Russia		76	49%
8	Irina Bliznova	Russia	36	70	51%
9	Liu Yun	China	35	49	71%
10	Ionela Stanca-Gâlcă	Romania	33	41	80%
	Linnea Torstenson	Sweden		90	37%