2009 World Women's Handball Championship

The 2009 World Women's Handball Championship was the 19th edition, second to take place outside Europe, of the international championship tournament in women's team sport handball that is governed by the International Handball Federation (IHF). China hosted the event from 5-20 December 2009. Russia successfully contested France in the final, their fourth title.

Venues

The competition took place in the Chinese province of Jiangsu. It was the second women's World Championship organized outside of Europe, the first was in South Korea 1990. Six cities were on the short list to host the matches:

Qualification

Host Nation European play-offs were played from 6-7 June 2009 (first leg) and 12-14 June 2009 (second leg). Qualified teams are marked in bold. The 2009 Pan-American Championship took place from 23-27 June in Santiago, Chile. The three highest ranked teams qualified directly. The 2009 Oceania Championship took place in Brisbane, Australia, from 25-30 May. The host team won the competition and thus qualified directly.

Squads

Each nation had to submit an initial squad of 28 players, 12 of them became reserves when the final squad of 16 players was announced on 5 December 2009.

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round was held on 15 July 2009 at the IHF headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. Teams placed first, second and third will qualify for the Main Round.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Main Round

Group I

Group II

President's Cup

Placement matches for teams eliminated after preliminary round.

Group President's Cup 1

Group President's Cup 2

Placement Matches

13-24 December: Final placement matches for Presidents Cup. 5-12 December: Placement matches for teams eliminated after main round.

23rd / 24th Place

21st / 22nd Place

19th / 20th Place

17th / 18th Place

15th / 16th Place

13th / 14th Place

11th / 12th Place

9th / 10th Place

Seventh place game

Fifth place game

Final round

Semifinals

Bronze medal game

Final

Ranking and statistics

Final ranking

All Star Team

Chosen by team officials and IHF experts: IHF.info

Top Goalkeepers

Source: IHF.info

Top goalscorers