2001 World Women's Handball Championship

The 2001 World Women's Handball Championship, the 15th of its kind, was held from 4 to 16 December 2001, and was hosted by Italy, with the final being played in Merano.

2001 World Women's Handball Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Italy
Venue(s)	4 (in 4 host cities)
Dates	4–16 December
Teams	24 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Russia (1st title)
Runners-up	Norway
Third place	Yugoslavia
Fourth place	Denmark
Tournament statistics
Matches played	80
Goals scored	4,154 (51.93 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Ausra Fridrikas (87 goals)[1]
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Russia won their first title, beating Norway in the final.

Qualification

Competition	Dates	Host	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation			1	Italy
1999 World Championship	29 November – 12 December 1999	Denmark  Norway	1	Norway
2000 African Championship	23 April – 1 May 2000	Algeria	3	Angola  Congo  Tunisia
2000 Asian Handball Championship	10–17 August 2000	Shanghai	3	South Korea  Japan  China
2000 Pan American Championship	31 October – 5 November 2000	Aracaju	3	Brazil  Uruguay  Greenland
2000 European Championship	8–17 December 2000	Romania	5	Hungary  Ukraine  Russia  Romania  France
European qualification	25 November 2000 – 26 May 2001	Various	8	Austria  Denmark  Macedonia  Netherlands  Slovenia  Spain  Sweden  Yugoslavia

Squads

Main article: 2001 World Women's Handball Championship squads

Each team consists of up to 12 players for each match.

Results

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Denmark	5	5	0	0	141	98	+43	10	Round of 16
2	France	5	4	0	1	135	102	+33	8
3	China	5	3	0	2	130	142	−12	6
4	Netherlands	5	1	1	3	117	121	−4	3
5	Ukraine	5	0	2	3	120	145	−25	2
6	Macedonia	5	0	1	4	110	145	−35	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

4 December 2001 16:30	Ukraine	28–28	Netherlands	Bolzano
		(12–15)

4 December 2001 18:30	France	31–17	Macedonia	Bolzano Referees: Arnaldsson, Viðarsson (ISL)
		(14–11)

4 December 2001 20:30	Denmark	36–24	China	Bolzano Attendance: 100 Referees: Pleşa, Pripas (ROU)
	Kiærskou 8	(19–12)
		Report (dk)

---

5 December 2001 16:30	Netherlands	21–22	France	Bolzano Referees: Forbord, Jørstad (NOR)
		(10–8)

5 December 2001 18:30	China	32–29	Ukraine	Bolzano Referees: Bardella, Rubinetti (ITA)
		(18–16)

5 December 2001 20:30	Macedonia	22–31	Denmark	Bolzano Attendance: 500
		(11–14)	Roslyng, Touray 6
		Report (dk)

---

6 December 2001 16:30	Netherlands	23–24	China	Bolzano
		(7–13)

6 December 2001 18:30	Ukraine	22–22	Macedonia	Bolzano
		(10–12)

6 December 2001 20:30	France	20–21	Denmark	Bolzano Attendance: 800
		(10–10)	Vestergaard 6
		Report (dk)

---

8 December 2001 16:30	Macedonia	24–29	Netherlands	Bolzano
		(9–16)

8 December 2001 18:30	France	29–18	China	Bolzano
		(13–9)

8 December 2001 20:30	Denmark	30–16	Ukraine	Bolzano Attendance: 400
	three players 6	(17–7)
		Report (dk)

---

9 December 2001 16:30	China	32–25	Macedonia	Bolzano
		(15–15)

8 December 2001 18:30	Ukraine	25–33	France	Bolzano
		(13–17)

9 December 2001 20:30	Denmark	23–16	Netherlands	Bolzano Attendance: 400
	Andersen 7	(10–7)
		Report (dk)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Sweden	5	5	0	0	135	116	+19	10	Round of 16
2	Hungary	5	4	0	1	142	117	+25	8
3	Spain	5	3	0	2	136	128	+8	6
4	Angola	5	2	0	3	126	116	+10	4
5	Romania	5	1	0	4	129	135	−6	2
6	Congo	5	0	0	5	95	151	−56	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

4 December 2001 16:30	Hungary	24–23	Angola	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
		(12–12)

4 December 2001 18:30	Romania	25–29	Spain	Meranarena, Merano Attendance: 150 Referees: Brunn, Nielsen (DEN)
	Dobrin, Gâscă 6	(10–16)	Morskova 17
	4× 4× 1×	Report	3× 6× 1×

4 December 2001 20:30	Sweden	29–21	Congo	Meranarena, Merano
		(13–9)

---

5 December 2001 16:30	Angola	28–27	Romania	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Gardinovački, Marić (FRY)
		(15–12)

5 December 2001 18:30	Congo	15–35	Hungary	Meranarena, Merano
		(9–21)

5 December 2001 20:30	Spain	24–27	Sweden	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Dolejš, Kohout (CZE)
	Morskova 12	(13–13)	Eriksson 7
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

---

6 December 2001 16:30	Angola	27–13	Congo	Meranarena, Merano
		(15–6)

6 December 2001 18:30	Romania	22–26	Sweden	Meranarena, Merano
		(13–16)

6 December 2001 20:30	Hungary	27–23	Spain	Meranarena, Merano Attendance: 400 Referees: Khudoerko, Litvinov (RUS)
	Balogh, Radulović 5	(11–14)	Morskova 12
	3× 5×	Report	2× 3×

---

8 December 2001 16:30	Sweden	30–29	Hungary	Meranarena, Merano
		(15–17)

8 December 2001 18:30	Romania	29–25	Congo	Meranarena, Merano
		(15–17)

8 December 2001 20:30	Spain	29–28	Angola	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Arnaldsson, Viðarsson (ISL)
	Morskova 10	(13–16)	Bengue 8
	3× 3×	Report	4× 3×

---

9 December 2001 16:30	Hungary	27–26	Romania	Meranarena, Merano
		(12–15)

9 December 2001 18:30	Congo	21–31	Spain	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Gardinovački, Marić (FRY)
	Ngayilolo 5	(9–18)	Morskova 7
	3× 2×	Report	3× 3×

9 December 2001 20:30	Sweden	23–20	Angola	Meranarena, Merano
		(13–10)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Russia	5	5	0	0	142	107	+35	10	Round of 16
2	Yugoslavia	5	3	1	1	168	122	+46	7[a]
3	Austria	5	3	1	1	146	129	+17	7[a]
4	South Korea	5	2	0	3	146	133	+13	4
5	Japan	5	1	0	4	115	151	−36	2
6	Greenland	5	0	0	5	77	152	−75	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

1. FR Yugoslavia 31–31 Austria

4 December 2001 16:30	Russia	31–23	Japan	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Bardella, Rubinetti (ITA)
		(13–11)

4 December 2001 18:30	South Korea	29–31	Austria	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Forbord, Jørstad (NOR)
		(19–14)

4 December 2001 20:30	Yugoslavia	35–13	Greenland	Palsport, Bressanone Referees: Dittrich, Scharf (BRA)
	Knežević 10	(19–5)	Jensen 5
		Report (sr)

---

5 December 2001 16:30	Austria	20–27	Russia	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Fernández, Permuy (ESP)
		(13–13)

5 December 2001 18:30	Japan	18–35	Yugoslavia	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
		(8–14)

5 December 2001 20:30	Greenland	12–27	South Korea	Palsport, Bressanone Referees: Ehrmann, Künzig (GER)
	Jensen, Kyed 3	(5–15)	Choi 8
		Report (dk)

---

6 December 2001 16:30	Japan	22–30	Austria	Meranarena, Merano
		(9–13)

6 December 2001 18:30	Yugoslavia	39–31	South Korea	Meranarena, Merano
		(22–17)
		Report (sr)

6 December 2001 20:30	Russia	29–13	Greenland	Palsport, Bressanone Referees: Besses, Benmila (ALG)
	Tchaoussova 7	(14–4)	three players 3

---

8 December 2001 16:30	South Korea	23–26	Russia	Meranarena, Merano
		(11–15)

8 December 2001 18:30	Yugoslavia	31–31	Austria	Meranarena, Merano
		(16–14)
		Report (sr)

8 December 2001 20:30	Greenland	19–27	Japan	Palsport, Bressanone Referees: Dittrich, Scharf (BRA)
	Kyed 7	(12–11)	Tanaka 8

---

9 December 2001 16:30	Russia	29–28	Yugoslavia	Meranarena, Merano Attendance: 500 Referees: Bruun, Nielsen (DEN)
	Poltoratskaya 11	(13–12)	Petrović 10
	6×	Report (sr)	7×

9 December 2001 18:30	South Korea	36–25	Japan	Meranarena, Merano
		(16–13)

9 December 2001 20:30	Austria	34–20	Greenland	Palsport, Bressanone Referees: Fernández, Permuy (ESP)
	Fridrikas, Ofenböck 8	(17–6)	Jensen 7

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Norway	5	5	0	0	175	91	+84	10	Round of 16
2	Slovenia	5	4	0	1	147	114	+33	8
3	Brazil	5	3	0	2	123	130	−7	6
4	Italy	5	2	0	3	109	122	−13	4
5	Tunisia	5	1	0	4	102	134	−32	2
6	Uruguay	5	0	0	5	90	155	−65	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

4 December 2001 16:30	Slovenia	25-22	Tunisia
		(14-10)

4 December 2001 18:30	Norway	37–22	Brazil
	Sandve (9)	(19–10)
	4×	Report (NOR)

4 December 2001 20:30	Italy	26-22	Uruguay
		(15-9)

---

5 Decembrie 2001 16:30	Slovenia	36-23	Brazil
		(16-10)

5 December 2001 18:30	Uruguay	11–48	Norway
		(4–21)	Sørlie Lybekk (10)
		Report (NOR)	4×

5 December 2001 20:30	Italy	25-20	Tunisia
		(12-11)

---

6 December 2001 16:30	Brazil	23-18	Uruguay
		(10-8)

6 December 2001 18:30	Norway	30–18	Tunisia
	Sandve (5)	(15–10)
	5×	Report (NOR)

6 December 2001 20:30	Slovenia	28-21	Italy
		(16-9)

---

8 December 2001 16:30	Brazil	31-18	Tunisia
		(20-8)

8 December 2001 18:30	Slovenia	34-16	Uruguay
		(15-7)

8 December 2001 20:30	Italy	16–28	Norway
		(6–15)	Rokne (6)
		Report (NOR)	4×

---

9 December 2001 16:30	Tunisia	24-23	Uruguay
		(11-9)

9 December 2001 18:30	Norway	32–24	Slovenia
	Grini (12)	(13–11)
	4×	Report (NOR)

9 December 2001 20:30	Brazil	24-21	Italy
		(13-12)

Knockout round

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

11 December

Denmark

30

13 December

Angola

18

Denmark

27

11 December

Austria

26

Austria

26

15 December

Slovenia

21

Denmark

20

11 December

Russia

26

Russia

24

13 December

Italy

19

Russia

30

11 December

Hungary

23

China

23

16 December

Hungary

24

Russia

30

11 December

Norway

25

Spain

25

13 December

France

32

France

26

11 December

Norway

29

Norway

29

15 December

South Korea

25

Norway (ET)

34

11 December

Yugoslavia

33

Third place

Brazil

22

13 December

16 December

Yugoslavia

38

Yugoslavia

32

Denmark

40

11 December

Sweden

18

Yugoslavia (ET)

42

Sweden

23

Netherlands

21

	5–8th place semifinals				Fifth place
	15 December
	Austria	33
					16 December
	Hungary	36
					Hungary	30
	15 December
					France	31
	France	22
	Sweden	21
					Seventh place
					16 December
					Austria	33
					Sweden	31

Round of 16

11 December 2001 18:00	Spain	25–32	France	Palasport, Bressanone Referees: Bruun, Nielsen (DEN)
	Morskova 9	(13–17)	Lejeune 14
	4× 3×	Report	3× 10× 1×

---

11 December 2001 18:00	Brazil	22–38	Yugoslavia	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Kang, Lim (KOR)
	Sales 8	(9–22)	Savić 10
	2× 1×	Report	3× 5×

---

11 December 2001 18:00	China	23–24	Hungary	PalaTrento, Trento Referees: Arnaldsson, Viðarsson (ISL)
	Zhai 7	(13–11)	Ag. Farkas 6
	3× 4×	Report	3× 4×

---

11 December 2001 18:00	Austria	26–21	Slovenia	Palasport, Bolzano Referees: Forbord, Jørstad (NOR)
	Fridrikas 9	(14–13)	Mijatović 6
	4× 4× 1×	Report	2× 3×

---

11 December 2001 20:30	Denmark	30–18	Angola	Palasport, Bolzano Attendance: 200 Referees: Pleşa, Pripas (ROU)
	Touray 7	(16–8)	Bengue 5
	3× 4×	Report	2× 4× 1×

---

11 December 2001 20:30	Russia	24–19	Italy	PalaTrento, Trento Referees: Alonso, Tchara (ARG)
	Bodnieva 5	(10–10)	Anysenkova 7
	2× 6× 1×	Report	3× 6×

---

11 December 2001 20:30	Sweden	23–21	Netherlands	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Erkisson 7	(10–10)	Pusic 8
	3× 2×	Report	3× 2×

---

11 December 2001 20:30	Norway	29–25	South Korea	Palasport, Bressanone Referees: Khudoerko, Litvinov (RUS)
	Grini, Rokne 7	(16–14)	Choi, Moon 6
	3× 3×	Report	2× 5× 1×

Quarterfinals

13 December 2001 20:30	Denmark	27–26	Austria	Palsport, Bressanone Attendance: 1,200 Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Kiærskou 6	(15–15)	Fridrikas 14
	3× 5×	Report	4× 5×

13 December 2001 19:43	Russia	30–23	Hungary	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Forbord, Jørstad (NOR)
	Kareeva 8	(15–10)	Borók 7
	2× 6×	Report	2× 7× 1×

13 December 2001 20:30	France	26–29	Norway	Palasport, Bolzano
		(11–15)	Rokne 7
		Report (no)	5×

13 December 2001 20:30	Yugoslavia	32–18	Sweden	PalaTrento, Trento Referees: Ehrmann, Künzig (GER)
	Kolaković, Savić 6	(13–9)	Erkisson 5
	4× 6×	Report	3× 10× 1×

5–8th place semifinals

15 December 2001 18:00	Austria	33–36	Hungary	PalaTrento, Trento Referees: Khudoerko, Litvinov (RUS)
	Fridrikas 10	(19–16)	Ag. Farkas 7
	3× 4×	Report	4× 8×

---

15 December 2001 18:00	France	22–21	Sweden	Palasport, Bolzano Referees: Arnaldsson, Viðarsson (ISL)
	Lejeune 8	(10–9)	Erkisson 7
	3× 5×	Report	3× 2×

Semifinals

15 December 2001 20:30	Denmark	20–26	Russia	PalaTrento, Trento Referees: Baum, Góralczyk (POL)
	Vestergaard 5	(12–11)	Tschauossova 10
	3× 3×	Report	3× 3×

15 December 2001 20:30	Norway	34–33 (ET)	Yugoslavia	Palasport, Bolzano Referees: Bord, Buy (FRA)
	Grini 11	(15–16)	Knežević 8
	3× 6×	Report	3× 9×
	FT: 29–29 ET: 5–4

Seventh place game

16 December 2001 10:00	Austria	33–31	Sweden	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Pleşa, Pripas (ROU)
	Strass 10	(20–13)	Erkisson 6
	3× 2×	Report	3× 4×

Fifth place game

16 December 2001 12:30	Hungary	30–31	France	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Forbord, Jørstad (NOR)
	Balogh 9	(16–14)	Wendling 7
	3× 5×	Report	2× 6× 1×

Third place game

16 December 2001 15:00	Denmark	40–42 (ET)	Yugoslavia	Meranarena, Merano Attendance: 3,500 Referees: Ehrmann, Künzig (GER)
	Vestergaard 16	(17–14)	Kolaković 7
	4× 2×	Report	4× 5×
	FT: 34–34 ET: 6–8

Final

16 December 2001 17:30	Russia	30–25	Norway	Meranarena, Merano Referees: Dolejš, Kohout (CZE)
	Bodniyeva, Poltoratskaya 5	(18–12)	Grini 9
	3× 4×	Report	3× 2×

Final standings

Rank	Team
	Russia
	Norway
	Yugoslavia
4	Denmark
5	France
6	Hungary
7	Austria
8	Sweden
9	Slovenia
10	Spain
11	China
12	Brazil
13	Angola
14	Netherlands
15	South Korea
16	Italy
17	Romania
18	Ukraine
19	Tunisia
20	Japan
21	Macedonia
22	Congo
23	Uruguay
24	Greenland

Statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Name Goals Shots % 1 Ausra Fridrikas 87 157 55.4 2 Leila Lejeune 71 122 58.2 3 Natalia Morskova 67 98 68.4 4 Kjersti Grini 53 85 62.4 5 Åsa Eriksson 50 86 58.1 6 Maja Savić 49 71 69.0 Zhai Chao 88 55.7 8 Elena Tchaoussova 47 72 65.3 Bojana Petrović 84 56.0 10 Barbara Strass 45 66 68.2 Sandra Kolaković 69 65.2 Source: IHF

Top goalkeepers Rank Name Saves Shots % 1 Cecilie Leganger 128 297 43.1 2 Jenny Lindblom 119 301 39.5 3 Valérie Nicolas 86 252 34.1 4 Zlata Paplacko 84 241 34.9 5 Nataliya Rusnachenko 83 224 37.1 6 Lene Rantala 72 195 36.9 7 Svetlana Bogdanova 71 165 43.0 8 Nada Tutnijc 66 159 41.5 Chana Masson 197 33.5 10 Verena Wolf 63 201 31.3 Source: IHF

All Star team

^[2]

Goalkeeper		Cecilie Leganger
Right wing		Beatrix Balogh
Right back		Mette Vestergaard
Line player		Liudmila Bodnieva
Central back		Irina Poltoratskaya
Left back		Leila Lejeune
Left wing		Maja Savić

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Russia	Norway	Yugoslavia