1997 World Men's Handball Championship

The 1997 World Men's Handball Championship was the 15th team handball World Championship. It was held in Kumamoto, Japan and was the first World Championship not played in a European country. Russia won the championship.

1997 World Men's Handball Championship

1997年男子世界ハンドボール選手権大会
Tournament details
Host country	Japan
Dates	16 May–1 June
Teams	24
Venue(s)	4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Russia (2nd title)
Runner-up	Sweden
Third place	France
Fourth place	Hungary
Tournament statistics
Matches	80
Goals scored	3741 (46.76 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Yoon Kyung-shin (KOR) 62 (12)
Best player	Talant Duyshebaev (ESP)
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Qualification

Competition	Dates	Vacancies	Qualified
Host nation		1	Japan
1995 World Men's Handball Championship	7–21 May 1995	1	France
1996 European Men's Handball Championship	24 May – 2 June 1996	4	Russia  Spain  FR Yugoslavia  Sweden
1996 Pan American Men's Handball Championship	8–13 October 1996	3	Cuba  Argentina  Brazil
1996 African Men's Handball Championship	16–29 October 1996	4	Algeria  Tunisia  Egypt  Morocco
European qualification	20 August – 1 December 1996	6	Czech Republic  Hungary  Iceland  Italy  Norway  Portugal
Asian qualification	30 September – 4 December 1996	3	Saudi Arabia  China  South Korea
EHF v OCHF Play-off	31 January – 2 February 1997	1	Lithuania
Unknown	Unknown	1	Croatia

Venues

The organizing committee used four venues to host the 1997 World Men's Handball Championship:[1]

• Group A: Park Dome Kumamoto
• Group B: Kumamoto City Gym
• Group C: Yamaga City Gym
• Group D: Yatsushiro City Gym

Preliminary round

The top 4 placed teams of each group continues to the knockout stage. The teams are ranked through the following rules.

1. Team with the most points (2 points for each won game, 1 point for each drawn game).
2. If two teams get the same points, the winner in the game between the two teams get ranked first.
3. If the game between the teams ended in a draw, the team with the best goal difference get ranked first.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iceland	5	4	1	0	124	106	+18	9	Round of 16
2	FR Yugoslavia	5	4	0	1	129	111	+18	8
3	Lithuania	5	2	1	2	110	102	+8	5
4	Japan	5	2	0	3	101	104	−3	4
5	Algeria	5	1	2	2	103	112	−9	4
6	Saudi Arabia	5	0	0	5	94	126	−32	0

Source:

17 May 19:30	Iceland	24 – 20	Japan	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(14-10)

---

18 May 15:00	Saudi Arabia	18 – 27	Lithuania	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(6-12)

18 May 17:00	FR Yugoslavia	22 – 19	Japan	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(9-7)

18 May 19:00	Algeria	27 – 27	Iceland	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(13-15)

---

19 May 13:00	FR Yugoslavia	29 - 21	Lithuania	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(17-10)

19 May 15:00	Algeria	19 – 14	Saudi Arabia	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(6-3)

---

21 May 19:00	Japan	23 – 20	Saudi Arabia	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(15-10)

22 May 13	Lithuania	19 – 19	Algeria	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(10-10)

22 May 15:00	Iceland	27 – 18	FR Yugoslavia	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(11-9)

---

24 May 15:00	Saudi Arabia	20 – 32	FR Yugoslavia	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(11-15)

24 May 17:00	Algeria	14 - 24	Japan	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(4-13)

24 May 19:00	Lithuania	19 – 21	Iceland	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(8-10)

---

25 May 15:00	Saudi Arabia	22 – 25	Iceland	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(12-15)

25 May 17:00	Japan	15 – 24	Lithuania	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(7-11)

25 May 19:00	FR Yugoslavia	28 – 24	Algeria	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(14-12)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	5	4	0	1	127	114	+13	8	Round of 16
2	Sweden	5	4	0	1	141	101	+40	8
3	South Korea	5	3	1	1	128	127	+1	7
4	Norway	5	1	2	2	104	109	−5	4
5	Italy	5	1	1	3	100	105	−5	3
6	Argentina	5	0	0	5	96	140	−44	0

Source:

18 May 15:00	France	25 – 21	Italy	City gym, Kumamoto
		(12-10)

18 May 17:00	Norway	21 – 21	South Korea	City gym, Kumamoto
		(11-8)

18 May 19:00	Sweden	36 – 17	Argentina	City gym, Kumamoto
		(17-6)

---

20 May 13:00	France	26 – 27	South Korea	City gym, Kumamoto
		(18-11)

20 May 15:00	Sweden	24 – 17	Norway	City gym, Kumamoto
		(12-8)

---

21 May 18:00	Italy	19 – 19	Norway	City gym, Kumamoto
		(10-9)

21 May 20:00	Argentina	20 – 24	France	City gym, Kumamoto
		(8-12)

---

22 May 13:00	Argentina	15 – 21	Italy	City gym, Kumamoto
		(3-10)

22 May 15:00	South Korea	21 – 36	Sweden	City gym, Kumamoto
		(9-21)

---

24 May 15:00	South Korea	32 – 22	Argentina	City gym, Kumamoto
		(19-13)

24 May 17:00	Norway	20 – 23	France	City gym, Kumamoto
		(10-11)

24 May 19:00	Sweden	19 – 17	Italy	City gym, Kumamoto
		(8-10)

---

25 May 15:00	Italy	22 – 27	South Korea	City gym, Kumamoto
		(9-12)

25 May 17:00	Norway	27 – 22	Argentina	City gym, Kumamoto
		(14-9)

25 May 19:00	France	29 – 26	Sweden	City gym, Kumamoto
		(12-14)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	5	4	1	0	141	103	+38	9	Round of 16
2	Egypt	5	4	1	0	129	94	+35	9
3	Czech Republic	5	3	0	2	119	105	+14	6
4	Tunisia	5	2	0	3	92	108	−16	4
5	Portugal	5	1	0	4	119	123	−4	2
6	Brazil	5	0	0	5	65	132	−67	0

Source:

18 May 15:00	Portugal	26 – 18	Brazil	City gym, Yamaga
		(13-7)

18 May 17:00	Czech Republic	22 – 24	Egypt	City gym, Yamaga
		(11-12)

18 May 19:00	Spain	32 – 21	Tunisia	City gym, Yamaga
		(13-11)

---

20 May 13:00	Brazil	10 – 24	Czech Republic	City gym, Yamaga
		(6-12)

20 May 15:00	Egypt	19 – 19	Spain	City gym, Yamaga
		(11-10)

21 May 18:00	Tunisia	19 – 18	Portugal	City gym, Yamaga
		(9-7)

---

21 May 20:00	Spain	32 – 11	Brazil	City gym, Yamaga
		(15-3)

22 May 13:00	Egypt	24 – 17	Tunisia	City gym, Yamaga
		(12-8)

22 May 15:00	Czech Republic	28 – 24	Portugal	City gym, Yamaga
		(14-11)

---

24 May 15:00	Brazil	11 – 33	Egypt	City gym, Yamaga
		(4-18)

24 May 17:00	Czech Republic	19 – 18	Tunisia	City gym, Yamaga
		(10-12)

24 May 19:00	Portugal	26 – 29	Spain	City gym, Yamaga
		(11-12)

---

25 May 15:00	Tunisia	17 – 15	Brazil	City gym, Yamaga
		(11-6)

25 May 17:00	Portugal	25 – 29	Egypt	City gym, Yamaga
		(14-12)

25 May 19:00	Spain	29 – 26	Czech Republic	City gym, Yamaga
		(13-11)

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Russia	5	5	0	0	150	84	+66	10	Round of 16
2	Hungary	5	4	0	1	128	103	+25	8
3	Cuba	5	2	1	2	128	117	+11	5
4	Croatia	5	2	1	2	123	115	+8	5
5	China	5	1	0	4	101	160	−59	2
6	Morocco	5	0	0	5	90	141	−51	0

Source:

18 May 15:00	Russia	31 – 17	Cuba	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(17-9)

18 May 17:00	Croatia	34 – 21	China	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(17-9)

18 May 19:00	Hungary	25 – 19	Morocco	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(10-8)

---

19 May 13:00	China	15 – 34	Russia	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(6-20)

19 May 15:00	Morocco	17 – 26	Croatia	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(7-14)

---

21 May 18:00	Russia	30 – 13	Morocco	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(14-7)

21 May 20:00	Cuba	21 – 22	Hungary	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(8-11)

---

22 May 13:00	China	21 – 32	Cuba	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(9-19)

22 May 15:00	Croatia	20 – 23	Hungary	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(10-8)

---

24 May 15:00	Morocco	21 – 25	China	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(8-13)

24 May 17:00	Croatia	23 – 23	Cuba	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(13-13)

24 May 19:00	Hungary	19 – 24	Russia	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(7-13)

---

25 May 15:00	Cuba	35 – 20	Morocco	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(17-16)

25 May 17:00	Hungary	39 – 19	China	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(20-12)

25 May 19:00	Russia	31 – 20	Croatia	City gym, Yatsushiro
		(15-7)

Final round

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

A1

Iceland

32

B4

Norway

28

A1

Iceland

25

D2

Hungary

26

C3

Czech Republic

19

D2

Hungary

20

D2

Hungary

19

B2

Sweden

31

C1

Spain

31

D4

Croatia

25

C1

Spain

24

B2

Sweden

28

A3

Lithuania

20

B2

Sweden

32

B2

Sweden

21

D1

Russia

23

D3

Cuba

20

C2

Egypt

24

C2

Egypt

19

Third place

B1

France

22

B1

France

22

D2

Hungary

27

A4

Japan

21

B1

France

28

B1

France

24

D1

Russia

25

B3

South Korea

37

A2

FR Yugoslavia

33

B3

South Korea

15

D1

Russia

32

D1

Russia

20

C4

Tunisia

14

	5-8th place semifinals					5th place
	A1	Iceland	32
	C1	Spain	23
						A1	Iceland	23
						C2	Egypt	20
	C2	Egypt	28
	B3	South Korea	27			7th place
						C1	Spain	33
						B3	South Korea	26

Round of 16

27 May 13:00	Iceland	32 – 28	Norway	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(13-15)

27 May 13:00	Spain	31 – 25	Croatia	City gym, Kumamoto
		(16-14)

27 May 15:00	South Korea	37 – 33 (ET)	FR Yugoslavia	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(12-13)
	FT: 30-30 ET: 7-3

27 May 15:00	Cuba	20 – 24	Egypt	City gym, Kumamoto
		(9-10)

27 May 18:00	Lithuania	20 – 32	Sweden	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(9-18)

27 May 18:00	Czech Republic	19 – 20	Hungary	City gym, Kumamoto
		(9-11)

27 May 20:00	France	22 – 21	Japan	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(11-11)

27 May 20:00	Russia	20 – 14	Tunisia	City gym, Kumamoto
		(12-5)

---

Quarter-finals

29 May 18:00	Iceland	25 – 26	Hungary	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(11-14)

29 May 18:00	Spain	24 – 28 (ET)	Sweden	City gym, Kumamoto
		(12-12)
	FT: 21-21 ET: 3-7

29 May 20:00	South Korea	15 – 32	Russia	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(6-16)

29 May 20:00	Egypt	19 – 22	France	City gym, Kumamoto
		(8-13)

---

Placement matches

30 May 13:00	Spain	23 – 32	Iceland	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(11-11)

30 May 15:00	South Korea	27 – 28	Egypt	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(11-15)

---

7th place match

31 May 16:00	Spain	33 – 26	South Korea	City gym, Kumamoto
		(17-12)

5th place match

31 May 16:00	Egypt	20 – 23	Iceland	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(9-10)

---

Semi-finals

31 May 18:00	Hungary	19 – 31	Sweden	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(7-14)

31 May 18:00	France	24 – 25 (ET)	Russia	City gym, Kumamoto
		(12-14)
	FT: 21-21 ET: 3-4

---

Bronze final

1 June 14:00	France	28 – 27	Hungary	Park Dome, Kumamoto
		(15-12)

Final

1 June 16:00	Sweden	21 – 23	Russia	Park Dome, Kumamoto Attendance: 11,100
		(10-11)
		Report

Final standings

1.  Russia
2.  Sweden
3.  France
4.  Hungary
5.  Iceland
6.  Egypt
7.  Spain
8.  South Korea
9.  FR Yugoslavia
10.  Lithuania
11.  Czech Republic
12.  Norway
13.  Croatia
14.  Cuba
15.  Japan
16.  Tunisia
17.  Algeria
18.  Italy
19.  Portugal
20.  China
21.  Saudi Arabia
22.  Argentina
23.  Morocco
24.  Brazil

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Russia Andrey Lavrov Pavel Sukosyan Vasily Kudinov Vyacheslav Gorpishin Dmitri Torgovanov Stanislav Kulinchenko Oleg Grebnev Vyacheslav Atavin Igor Lavrov Oleg Kuleshov Lev Voronin Sergey Pogorelov Eduard Koksharov Valery Gopin Denis Krivoshlykov Head Coach : Mr. Vladimir Maksimov	Sweden Magnus Andersson Martin Frändesjö Peter Gentzel Robert Hedin Ola Lindgren Stefan Lövgren Mats Olsson Staffan Olsson Johan Petersson Tomas Sivertsson Jan Stankiewicz Tomas Svensson Pierre Thorsson Ljubomir Vranjes Magnus Wislander Head Coach : Mr. Bengt Johansson	France Christian Gaudin Bruno Martini Francis Franck Éric Amalou Patrick Cazal Stéphane Cordinier Guillaume Gille Stéphane Joulin Philippe Julia Guéric Kervadec Bernard Latchimy Yannick Reverdy Jackson Richardson Stéphane Stoecklin Marc Wiltberger Sémir Zuzo Head Coach : Mr. Daniel Costantini

All Star Team

• Goalkeeper: Mats Olsson  Sweden
• Left Wing: Valery Gopin  Russia
• Left Back: Vasily Kudinov  Russia
• Center Back: Talant Duyshebaev  Spain
• Pivot: Guéric Kervadec  France
• Right Back: Staffan Olsson  Sweden
• Right Wing: Valdimar Grímsson  Iceland

References

1. "Men Handball XV World Championship 1997 Kumamoto (JPN) 17.05-01.06 Champion Russia". Archived from the original on 24 August 2011.

External links

• Official report
• WC97 by todor66