World Cup opener for the DHB ladies

The gates to the Women’s World Handball Championship opened on Wednesday. For the first time, a world championship will be held in three countries. Norway, Denmark and Sweden are the hosts of these title fights. Not only is the most important trophy in women’s handball at stake, but also a good starting position for qualification towards the Olympic Games. We’re not looking that far ahead in our Germany vs Japan betting tip, however, but are first looking at the DHB women’s opening game

Once again, it is very sad that no free-to-air TV channel has been found to broadcast at least the German women’s matches. The matches can only be watched live on the streaming service Sportdeutschland.tv. There will also be delayed pictures from the halls on Eurosport. Perhaps the results of the DHB ladies will make people sit up and take notice, so that at least one broadcaster can be pulled in front of the cart as the tournament progresses.

In the preliminary round, the German selection is certainly favored in its group of four. The top three teams will progress to the next round and take their points from the direct matches against these teams into the main round. In the matches against Japan, Iran and Poland, 6:0 points are almost mandatory. This means that the first prediction between Germany and Japan has to be a German victory

We will discuss what happens next in the main round in due course. For now, the focus for national coach Markus Gaugisch’s team is on the opening match against Japan.

Germany – statistics & current form

Germany are not yet thinking about a medal or even the World Cup title. The favorites are certainly other teams. However, the declared goal is to reach the quarter-finals and finish at least seventh. That would be a good basis for securing a ticket to next year’s Olympic Games in Paris via qualifying tournaments

The quarter-finals are the goal

At the last two European Championships and at the last World Championships, they finished in seventh place. So the goals are by no means utopian, especially as the path to the quarter-finals does not appear particularly complicated at first glance. An opening win should be extremely important. The German women have the advantage of not having to travel far and will probably also receive great support from the stands on site

This is another point in favor of taking a closer look at the odds on a German success between Germany and Japan. Markus Gaugisch’s team will travel to Denmark in very good form. They have won eight of their last nine international matches. They also beat their group opponents from Poland in a test match.

The German women had their last two dress rehearsals with the highly rated Swedes. They even managed a 33:30 victory last Friday. Even though they suffered a seven-goal defeat two days later, Germany seem to be well prepared for the opener, especially as the Japanese have a different style of play to the Swedes, but are nowhere near the quality of the World Cup hosts.

Predicted Germany squad:

• Goal: Wachter, Filter
• Back line: Grijseels, Zschocke, Smits, Bölk, Lott, Weigel, Leuchter
• Left wing: Döll, Stockschläder
• Right wing: Berger, Behrend
• Circle: Schmelzer, Antl, Behnke
• Trainer: Gaugisch

Japan – Statistics & current form

Not least because of the 2021 Olympic Games in their own country, the Japanese women’s handball team has developed significantly in recent years. They are still waiting for the big titles and have recently been repeatedly beaten by South Korea in the continental championships. However, Japan is currently probably the best women’s handball team on the Asian continent

Self-confidence through winning streak

The preparation for this World Championship has also shown this. The Japanese women have won no fewer than nine games in a row. These were by no means just run-of-the-mill victories. The matches against Hong Kong, India and Nepal were certainly no great challenge, but last week the Japanese women showed what they are capable of at a four-nation tournament in Spain.

Japan won this tournament with three victories. The 31:29 victory over the Spanish team in particular was highly acclaimed. Against Serbia, a possible opponent in the main round, there was even a resounding victory with a 16-goal difference. The tournament ended with a clear victory against Argentina. With Germany and Japan in this form, it may not be so easy to predict a German victory.

The Japanese have at least three players who can be described as absolute stars. In goal is Sakura Hauge, who was born in Norway and even played two international matches for the big World Cup favorites before deciding to return to her mother’s homeland. She will be joined by right winger Natsumi Akiyama, who has played in Hungary for many years. It is also a special match for Haruna Sasaki, who is under contract with Borussia Dortmund and knows many of her opponents from the club or the Bundesliga.

Predicted Japan squad:

• Goal: Hauge, Baba, Saito
• Back line: Aizawa, Okada, Kitahara, Sasaki, Fujiwara, Nakayama, Hokaguchi, Ishikawa
• Left wing: Ryu, Matsumoro, Yoshidome
• Right wing: Hattori, Akiyama
• Circle: Sahara, Yasuko, Kasai, Nagata
• Coach: Kusumoto

Germany – Japan Direct comparison / H2H balance

The national teams from Germany and Japan have not met particularly often in women’s handball to date. There have been just four encounters in total. The German team’s record is still unblemished with 4-0 victories to date. There have been two previous encounters at World Championships, albeit a very, very long time ago.

Germany won 15:6 in Romania in 1962 and three years later they won 15:7 at home at the World Cup in Germany. After that, it was 42 years before they faced each other again. There were two duels at a tournament in Rotterdam. In the end, the German team won 35:19 and 36:30 respectively. However, as no one in either squad has any experience of head-to-head matches in international games, we can only use the direct comparison for the assessment to a limited extent

Germany – Japan betting tip

Germany and Japan are possibly the two teams that will take the first two places in this group. Since we assume that both teams will advance to the main round, it is all the more important to score points in this duel in order to take the points into the next round. If you like, this encounter is already the first final match for a place in the quarter-finals.

The German team has performed very well in recent weeks and months with eight wins from nine games. This included a win at the highly rated World Cup hosts in Sweden. However, the DHB ladies also lost their dress rehearsal against the Swedes. But that doesn’t have to be a bad omen

The Japanese have also performed very well in preparation. The win against Spain was a real exclamation mark. We are therefore of the opinion that there could be a German victory, but it might be a close one. We also don’t expect there to be too many goals. In the end, we have decided to play the odds on a handicap victory for the Asian team (+4.5 goals) between Germany and Japan