ST. PETERSBURG, 18 December 2005 — Russia confirmed their status as a handball superpower by crushing three-time Olympic gold medalists Denmark 31-24 in the semifinals of the women’s world championship yesterday.
Russia will now hope to regain the world title they lost to France two years ago when they face another unbeaten team, Romania, in today’s final.
The Russians, urged on by a 8,000-strong home crowd, played an inspired first half, tormenting the Danish defense with fine individual work by playmaker Irina Poltoratskaya, who plays for Danish club Slagelse, and pivot Lyudmila Bodnieva.
After taking a 16-9 lead at halftime, they extended their advantage to nine early in the second half before the Danes found their scoring touch to cut it to 24-22. The
Earlier in the day, Romania beat Hungary 26-24 to reach the final for the first time since 1973. After a tight first half, in which neither team held more than a two-goal lead, Roxana Gatzel gave Romania their biggest advantage with 17-14 at 31:10.
