The 2003 World Women's Handball Championship, the 16th handball world championship for women, was played in Croatia between 2 and 14 December 2003.
France won their first ever title, beating Hungary in the final.
Qualification The following nations were qualified:
Group A Group BGroup CGroup D won the 2002 Asian Women's Handball Championship and thus secured qualification, but decided later to withdraw, giving the spot to Japan instead.
Preliminary round
Group A in Split
Tuesday, 2 December: 41 - 18 32 - 25 28 - 25 Wednesday, 3 December: 33 - 27 12 - 38 15 - 33 Thursday, 4 December: 27 - 25 28 - 24 33 - 13 Saturday, 6 December: 12 - 36 20 - 28 44 - 41 Sunday, 7 December: 30 - 19 28 - 29 27 - 25
Group B in Poreč
Tuesday, 2 December: 28 - 27 46 - 16 29 - 19 Wednesday, 3 December: 31 - 18 22 - 26 20 - 47 Thursday, 4 December: 27 - 21 22 - 29 38 - 15 Saturday, 6 December: 24 - 18 26 - 30 12 - 41 Sunday, 7 December: 31 - 16 34 - 39 39 - 14
Group C in Karlovac
Tuesday, 2 December: 30 - 24 29 - 30 43 - 13 Wednesday, 3 December: 28 - 28 25 - 27 16 - 24 Thursday, 4 December: 33 - 15 45 - 13 41 - 30 Saturday, 6 December: 14 - 28 19 - 33 25 - 23 Sunday, 7 December: 30 - 39 29 - 21 31 - 18
Group D in Čakovec
Tuesday, 2 December: 43 - 25 34 - 26 20 - 20 Wednesday, 3 December: 28 - 32 30 - 27 20 - 29 Thursday, 4 December: 38 - 25 30 - 28 24 - 21 Saturday, 6 December: 17 - 36 34 - 30 29 - 21 Sunday, 7 December: 31 - 26 29 - 28 19 - 29
Main Round Top two teams from each group advanced to the Semifinals. The third placed teams from each group competed in the 5th/6th placement match.
Group I
Tuesday, 9 December: 27 - 26 31 - 27 25 - 27 Wednesday, 10 December: 25 - 25 25 - 28 33 - 35 Thursday, 11 December: 27 - 38 29 - 32 20 - 19
Group II in Rijeka
Tuesday, 9 December: 31 - 30 27 - 30 26 - 25 Wednesday, 10 December: 24 - 24 23 - 25 30 - 28 Thursday, 11 December: 31 - 23 29 - 28 23 - 35
Final round In Zagreb
Ranking and statistics
Final ranking 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
2003 Women's World Champions FranceFirst Title
Team roster Stéphanie Cano, Joanne Dudziak, Myriame Said Mohamed, Isabelle Cendier Ajaguin, Sophie Herbrecht, Estelle Vogein, Leila Lejeune, Isabelle Wendling, Sandrine Delerce, Myriam Borg-Korfanty, Mélinda Jacques-Szabo, Stéphanie Ludwig, Nodjialem Myaro, Valérie Nicolas, Véronique Pecqueux-Rolland, Raphaëlle Tervel. Head coach: Olivier Krumbholz.
All Star Team Goalkeeper: Left wing: Left back: Pivot: Centre back: Right back: Right wing:
Top Goalkeepers RankNameTeam%SavesShots 1 Joanne Dudziak 47% 57 122 2 Heidi Tjugum 46% 66 145 3 Cecilie Leganger 43% 89 207 Lene Rantala 21 49 5 Katalin Pálinger 42% 141 336 6 Tatiana Alizar 41% 58 141 7 Ildiko Barbu 40% 34 84 Irina Sirina 30 75 9 Luminita Dinu 39% 93 239 Valérie Nicolas 103 262
Top goalscorers RankNameTeamGoalsShots% 1 Bojana Radulović 97 170 57% 2 Olena Tsyhytsia 66 120 55% 3 Bojana Petrović 58 104 56% 4 Susana Fraile Celaya 50 116 43% 5 Zsuzsanna Lovasz 48 68 71% 6 Montserrat Puche Díaz 47 84 56% 7 Grit Jurack 46 90 51% 8 Woo Sun-Hee 45 75 60% 9 Ausra Fridrikas 45 82 55% 10 Elodie Mambo 43 86 50%
Statistics The total average number of shots and throws taken in the preliminary round was 51.79 with a shot efficacy of 52.46%. The greatest efficacy was acquired by shots at the goal line (70%). Teams won on average 4.58 penalty (7m) throws. The winning teams took on average 3.55 shots more that the defeated teams. Defeated teams were also 17.98% less efficient than the winning ones, not only in goal-scoring but also in number and efficacy of the fast breaks and assists.
Medalists GoldSilver Bronze
Literature
References