1997 World Women's Handball Championship

Host Cities

The matches were held in the cities of Berlin, Hanover, Saarbrücken, Hamburg, Sindelfingen, Neubrandenburg and Rotenburg an der Fulda. The semi-finals and finals were held in the Berlin in the Max-Schmeling-Halle.

Group A

GER : JPN 32:17 (16:7) AUT : BRA 36:23 (18:12) POL : ANG 29:24 (15:10) JPN : AUT 16:24 ( 8:13) BRA : POL 19:32 ( 7:15) ANG : GER 20:32 (11:12) JPN : BRA 25:21 (10:9) GER : POL 29:19 (14:9) AUT : ANG 29:22 (13:9) GER : BRA 32:18 (17:6) ANG : JPN 30:30 (15:16) POL : AUT 26:25 (14:11) BRA : ANG 23:30 (12:17) POL : JPN 23:17 (12:10) AUT : GER 18:28 (10:14)

Group B

CRO : CAN 27:14 (16:6) NOR : BLR 34:21 (14:12) FRA : UZB 39:17 (17:8) UZB : CRO 15:45 (10:19) CAN : NOR 15:32 (7:17) BLR : FRA 17:30 (10:15) CAN : BLR 13:30 (7:10) NOR : UZB 44:13 (20:5) CRO : FRA 21:20 (7:13) CRO : BLR 28:19 (12:9) UZB : CAN 18:18 (10:8) FRA : NOR 19:23 (10:9) BLR : UZB 35:20 (14:9) FRA : CAN 32:17 (18:7) NOR : CRO 22:25 (11:13)

Group C

ROM : ALG 44:23 (25:9) HUN : URU 36:12 (19:7) KOR : CIV 30:24 (18:12) URU : ROM 15:34 (9:14) CIV : HUN 21:33 (6:17) ALG : KOR 16:35 (5:18) ROM : HUN 26:30 (14:19) ALG : CIV 20:21 (9:12) KOR : URU 35:11 (15:4) ROM : CIV 28:26 (12:10) URU : ALG 18:29 (5:15) HUN : KOR 29:30 (17:16) CIV : URU 29:18 (15:6) HUN : ALG 28:13 (16:5) KOR : ROM 30:21 (13:12)

Group D

MKD : SLO 26:22 (11:11) RUS : CZE 27:24 (10:12) DEN : CHN 38:16 (17:9) SLO : RUS 27:30 (11:15) CHN : MKD 24:30 (11:19) CZE : DEN 27:41 (12:23) RUS : MKD 22:19 ( 9:8) CZE : CHN 30:25 (14:13) DEN : SLO 37:24 (22:09) SLO : CZE 28:31 (10:18) RUS : CHN 27:19 (16:7) MKD : DEN 25:23 (15:8) CHN : SLO 34:35 (19:17) MKD : CZE 24:24 ( 9:12) DEN : RUS 22:22 (12:12)

Eighth finals

FRA : POL 20:30 (11:16) GER : BLR 33:23 (16:8) AUT : NOR 18:24 (12:6) CRO : ANG 30:22 (14:8) KOR : CZE 29:26 (16:10) DEN : HUN 30:25 (19:12) ROM : MKD 33:37 (33:37 - 27:27 - 29:29 - 15:13) RUS : CIV 28:20 (11:11)

Quarter finals

GER : MKD 24:19 (13:7) POL : RUS 19:24 ( 8:13) DEN : CRO 25:21 (14:7) KOR : NOR 21:27 (12:15)

Semi-finals

For places 1-4 GER : NOR 23:25 ( 9:11) DEN : RUS 32:22 (19:12) For places 5-8 KOR : MKD 34:26 (22:12) POL : CRO 19:20 ( 8:9)

Finals

Place 1-2 NOR : DEN 20:33 (11:14) Place 3-4 GER : RUS 27:25 (16:12) Place 5-6 KOR : CRO 33:32 (28:28 - 14:15) Place 7-8 MKD : POL 36:34 (30:30 - 18:12)

World champions

Lene Rantala Anne Dorthe Tanderup Helle Simonsen Camilla Andersen Tina Bottzau Anette Hoffman Lone Mathiesen Janne Kolling Merete Moller Anja Andersen Gitte Sunesen Gitte Madsen Tonje Kjaergaard Susanne Munk Lauritsen Maybrit Nielsen Karina Jespersen Trainer: Ulrik Wilbek

Top scorers

1. Indira Kastratovic (MKD) 71 2. Sun-Lee Man (KOR) 63 3. Tonje Sagstuen (NOR) 59 4. Roxana Stanisor (ROM) 57 5. Aleksandra Pawelska (POL) 55 6. Grit Jurack (GER) 54 7. Valentina Radulovic (MKD) 52, Klaudija Subalo (CRO) 52 9. Anja Andersen (DEN) 51 10. Monika Ludmilova (CZE) 50

All Star Team

Goalkeeper: Susanne Munk Wilbek  Denmark

Left Wing: Han Sun-hee  South Korea

Left Back: Franziska Heinz  Germany

Center Back: Camilla Andersen  Denmark

Pivot: Natalia Deriougina  Russia

Right Back: Tonje Sagstuen  Denmark

Right Wing: Natalia Malachova  Russia