Men’s handball world championships – Hungarians knock out Olympic Champions – Highlights

Press release (Offical site of France2017) – Hungary pull off one of a huge shock in their eighth-final in Albertville in south-eastern France. Xavier Sabate’s men send home the Olympic champions with a controlled and mature performance, which saw them hold a lead over Danes from start to finish. This was the first win in a major competition for Hungary over Denmark since 2007. Hungary will now play Norway in the quarter-final on Tuesday (24.01) at 17:00 in Albertville.

Eighth-final:

Hungary vs Denmark 27:25 (13:12), Albertville

Perhaps boost by the return of captain László Nagy to the camp, Hungary came bursting out of the gates, and with five minutes gone, they found themselves 4:1 up. Led by an allusive Máte Lékai and solid Roland Mikler between the posts – who had already saved three of the Dane’s four shots – Hungary were clinically focused in front of a sold-out Albertville arena (6,540).

In the 13th minute, Nagy popped up in the Dane’s half and netted his first goal (6:4) since returning from injury. Young prospect, Ádám Juhász, further punished the Dane’s slow start (7:4), prompting Denmark’s Icelandic-born coach Gudmundur Gudmundsson to call a time-out (14’). Coming back with more urgency in defence, the Danes managed to pull it level though a signature Mikkel Hansen underarm jump-shot (8:8, 21’). It was Hansen (8/13) scoring on one side and the allusive Lekai (6/14 top scorer) assisting on the other who were the real engines for both sides; it stayed level right up until Gábor Ancsin gave Hungary a one-goal half-time lead (13:12).